Students of the Department of Communication and Development Studies in the university of Bamenda have been called upon to engage themselves in the fight against Gender Based Violence, GBV.
The call was made Tuesday, January 15 by the school authorities and members of an international organization during the award ceremony of some prizes for a GBV competition.
The award ceremony which was sponsored by Doctors Of The World in partnership with the Department of Communication and Development Studies was to grade the best documentaries produced by students of the department on Gender Based Violence.
Speaking during the award ceremony that took place at Amphitheater 340 of the university, Professor Suh Cheo Emmanuel, Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Teaching, Professionalization and Information Technology challenged the students to inculcate the initiative and educate others.
“The competition is very significant because it stands out spectacularly because it addresses a theme that is of utmost importance to the community at large and higher education in particular,” Prof said.
While emphasizing the university’s role in gender based violence, Professor Suh Cheo Emmanuel also congratulated the Communication department for the opportunity. He said this by pointing out the example of, Wanchia Cynthia, a matters student from the department who did a marvellous job as master of the ceremony.
The documentaries which involved three videos and three audios saw the first winner, Adoration Penkwang backed the sum of 300,000frs, after her video was selected as the best, while the winner on the audio side received the sum of 200, 000frs.
According to Singeh Helen Jokem, GBV project manager, they are already planning to seal a deal with the department for many other projects.
“The reason why we choose the university of Bamenda is that gender based violence is rampant in the school milieu. Specifically, we choose the department of Communication and Development Studies is because we want the young Journalists can work together with others through the media to reduce the stigmatization of gender based violence,” Singeh Helen, the project manager said.
“We are going to continue with a training manual with the department, which will be included in the course Gender and Development which will be a compulsory course for all the students,” Singeh Helen added
On their side, the winners thanked the international organization for the opportunity, as Adoration Penkwang said she will fight for the violence.
“I have always wanted to express myself from inside. I wanted to express the feelings of others, especially us girls. I won’t stop here, I want to do more of action than talking,” Adoration Penkwang, level 200 student and winner of the first prize said.
