More than 1,000 young people and women in Yaoundé took part in a two-day Civic Tech Literacy campaign aimed at promoting informed electoral participation and strengthening digital civic engagement ahead of Cameroon’s municipal and parliamentary elections.
The campaign was organized by Actions for Development and Empowerment (ADE) under the My Vote My Voice 2.0 project in partnership with Afritivistes, within the AHEAD Africa and Digitalise Youth projects led by the Digital Democracy Initiative.
Held across markets in Yaoundé on July 24 and 25, the initiative introduced participants to VoteCam, a civic technology application designed to improve access to verified electoral information and encourage greater citizen participation in the electoral process.
During practical demonstrations, participants learned how to use the application to access verified election information, locate voter registration centres, follow electoral processes, report election irregularities and malpractice, and view candidates’ profiles. The application also allows users to identify the nearest voter registration centres.
ADE said the initiative was launched in response to low civic engagement, particularly among youth and women. Despite more than 8.2 million voters having been registered ahead of the October 2025 presidential election, the organization noted that misinformation, political apathy, limited access to reliable electoral information and low digital civic literacy continue to discourage meaningful participation.
The organization expected the campaign to generate more than 2,500 downloads of the VoteCam application, strengthen public awareness of peaceful and informed electoral participation, and deepen collaboration with local authorities, civil society organizations, youth groups and community leaders across Yaoundé.
The campaign targeted young people aged 18 to 35, first-time voters, women and girls, persons with disabilities, market women’s associations and community leaders in the seven municipalities of Yaoundé.
Founded in 2019, ADE is a youth-led, non-profit organization that promotes citizen participation, accountability and community development through research, advocacy and civic engagement initiatives across Cameroon.
