MBORORO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMEMT ASSOCIATION OF CAMEROON (MBOSCUDA) PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE PROVICIAL P. B. P: 1086, YAOUNDE 70/77 42 98 02 E-mail: mboscudanec@yahoo.com mboscudanec@yahoo.com ASSOCIATION POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT SOCIAL ET CULTUREL DES MBORORO DU CAMEROUN (MBOSCUDA) COMITE EXECUTIF O. BOX 1086, YAOUNDE Tel: 00 237 22 61 61 Fax: 00 237 22 61 61 70 /77 42 98 02 E-mail: ‘Organization with special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN’ OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM ON MINORITY ISSUES FROM THE 14 TO THE 15TH OF DECEMBER 2010; PRESENTATION ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND MINORIY WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN CAMEROON. BY HAWE BOUBA NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT OF THE MBORORO SOCIALE AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION OF CAMEROON Minority rights are human rights. They are individual as well collective rights, belonging to nationals, religious, ethnic and linguistic groups, who are minorities as compared to the rest of the population. It is important to note that political factors influenced the formulation of minority rights, and this was decisive in the aftermaths of the 1st world war when the vainquors proceeded to the redefinition of frontiers according to the principle of nationality. A principle understood as a right for all nations to constitute themselves in all independence and by so doing to do everything possible to take into account minority population by race, language, and religion. While in Europe the minority issues were defined, regulated on normative and institutional base, in Africa the problem was different. Africa was not devastated by two world wars, but by colonization. During the partition of Africa, the colonial masters did not take into consideration the principle of nationality as was the case in Europe.