Towards Adoption of Draft Laws On ABS In Cameroon

By Walter Wilson Nana
The Secretary General In The Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, Mrs Prudence Galega has said that the draft laws on and about Genetic Resources in Cameroon, following the spirit of the Nagoya Protocol on Access, Benefits & Sharing, ABS are now available and ready to be discussed in the public settings across Cameroon and in the Parliament in particular.
  
    She invited media men and women, across the country, who dominated participation at the workshop and the other stakeholders to understand the laws on and about getting access to genetic resources across Cameroon.
    The Scribe in the Ministry of Environment outlined some of the progress made so far by the government and people of Cameroon in the areas of Access, Benefits and Sharing in the management and exploitation of genetic resources, noting that the availability of the draft laws is one of the very important steps to educate the key stakeholders, who include the media.
    She indicated that the Nagoya Protocol is a global process in which Cameroon has engaged into and so the must be a Cameroonian legislation that ensures that the exploitation of genetic resources benefits the local communities and the national economy. Adopted on October 29 2010 in Japan, the Nagaya Protocol went operational in many countries across the world on October 12 2014.

    According to the ABS National Focal Point Coordinator in Cameroon, Dr Aurelie Patience Dingom, who is also Inspector No 2 in the Ministry of Environment, there are defined ways on how to manage the processes and get to the genetic resources embedded in Cameroon. She reminded the journalists that all the genetic resources in Cameroon belong to the state but access to them must go through a mechanism, which is progressively being put in place; the case of the draft laws which have been presented to the Prime Minister of the Republic.
    She noted that it is the responsibility of the government of Cameroon to be at the fore of the regulatory mechanisms, saying when the draft laws would have been adopted, defaulters will be severely punished.
    Talking on the Nagoya Protocol, Dingom said it is an all inclusive process of Access, Benefits and Sharing. The Nagoya Protocol imposes responsibilities on the exploiter of the genetic resources. The exploiter and end-user must give back to the source(s) of the genetic resources. She added that the place of benefits sharing must always come to the fore.
    On behalf of the UNDP, partner of the ABS Process in Cameroon, Dr Martin ZehNlo mentioned that the media has to play the very important role of putting Cameroon’s genetic resources to the spotlight and instigate the changes we have to see in the sector. He said the laws we are all waiting for should bring to the limelight justice in the sector and the equitable sharing of the various benefits to all the stakeholders.
    Other speakers reiterated the role of the media and the stakes of communication in the ABS processes. 

Mrs Prudence Galega (standing) addresses participants at the workshop in Mbankomo

At a 3-day-workshop, which has just rounded off in the locality of Mbankomo, Yaoundé, Centre Region of Cameroon, Mrs Galega invited all the stakeholders in the ABS Process to be implicated and discuss the draft laws as much as possible and with all the verve.