ABOUT NWADO

The North West Association of Development Organizations (NWADO) is a network of Civil
Society Organizations (CSOs) working in the North West region of Cameroon. It was
created in 2002 with a view to contribute to the and equitable sustainable development
process in which stakeholders and collaborate and contribute to each other’s activities in
line with government policies and norms and values of the people of the North West
Region NWADO strength comes from a committed pool of member organizations that are
well structured and organized in specific thematic groups. Following a new orientation
from 2016 strategic plan, NWADO structured her membership into 6 thematic areas
based on their area of work and expertise. There are 68 member organisations registered
in the data base with about 36 active and committed. The main thematic groups include
– Agriculture
– Human rights Governance
– Environment
– Health
– Socio economic empowerment.
– Education
There are cross cutting thematic areas such a gender, media and communications.
NWADO serves as an information house for development information and plays a critical
role in as the voice of North West civil society by leading advocacy initiatives and
strengthening member’s capacities on identified areas where there are capacity gaps.
NWADO initiates activities that promote networking among civil society and stimulate
information sharing, inter organizational learning, joint project activities and local and
international partnerships and collaboration. Following the new strategic orientation in
2016, NWADO is more committed to improving core member services and stimulating
actions that can shape development policies at locally and nationally.
Our vision: NWADO dreams of a civil society with a stronger voice and well-coordinated
actions for sustainable development
Our mission: NWADO stands to strengthen the capacities of civil society
organizations for active and effective policy engagement towards democratic governance
and sustainable development.
VALUES
 We strongly respect human dignity and adhere to the rule of law.
 We single out ourselves as a transparent and more accountable entity.
 We practice a culture of diversity and pluralism.
 We are an open institution and believe in knowledge /information sharing
Executive summary
In 2018, NWADO celebrated its 16th year of existence with a steady growth contributing to
strengthen civil society locally and nationally to have a stronger voice and actively contributing
to national development. This growth has been amidst challenges with the main one being
moving civil society networking from a concept now understood by many to a more practical
and functional process of achieving more by working together as opposed to working
individually. NWADO being an umbrella organization has members working in thematic
groupings including; governance and the promotion of human rights, gender and grassroots
empowerment, natural resource management, health and sanitation, youth empowerment,
capacity building amongst others.
Through the use of this holistic approach, NWADO has continued to establish a high level of
credibility, legitimacy and was increasingly seen as ideally suited to aggregate civil society
views as one voice for the North West region during the year. Created with a scope being the
North West region, NWADO in the course of the year contributed to national civil society
dynamics through participating, organizing, facilitating processes that saw the active
involvement of the civil society in national policy debates and development processes.
Collaboration intensified with her technical and financial partner ENEO Cameroon through
broader efforts toward state/CSO/private sector partnership.
New partnerships were built with local and national and institutions and organizations
remarkably, memorandums of understanding signed between NWADO and funding council
and some media houses of the region.
In the beginning of the year, under a general heading of Participative Planning process, an
survey was carried out and an action plan was drawn which was the basis of NWADO’s work
for 2018. Through action learning, NWADO achieved much through the effective and efficient
implementation of the plan. Highlights of these achievements include the enhancing the
visibility of the members through the development of their organizational profile and
improving access to resources for members and the mutual use of resources available at the
secretariat and continuous reflection accountability and legitimacy,
NWADO in the course of the year initiating forums for discussions with the media and state
actors, organized exchange networking and experience sharing with CSOs. This all resulted in
a clear road map for collaboration and cooperation to enhance the development of communities
in Cameroon. Activities carried out by the network in 2018 benefitted the membership of the
network and NWADO secretariat created equal opportunities for the membership using all the
Avenues for dissemination of these opportunities and equally avoided competing with the
members on the available opportunities.
Sincere appreciation goes to our member and a committed team at the secretariat headed by the
Coordinator.
As board chair, I will on behalf of NWADO Board of Directors like to thank in a special way
our partners remarkable ENEO Cameroon, Plan International, Fundong Council,
PLANOSCAM and the National Employment Fund. These partners gave valuable technical
support and some financial support for the different initiatives NWADO was championing, to
strengthen the civil society in Cameroon.