A/HRC/25/56/Add.1 income-generating activities, the displaced Pygmy communities suffer from poor nutrition, which has a direct impact on health, child development and life expectancy.19 37. The Independent Expert visited a displaced Bagyeli Pygmy community in Kribi, in the South. The people live in very basic accommodation and extreme poverty. One community leader requested the Independent Expert to “help bring us out of this misery”. While economic development projects are necessary for the country’s development, nongovernmental organizations working with Bagyeli communities commented that many Pygmy communities have been displaced by major projects, including a deep-sea port, gas plants, the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, and forestry and logging projects. Palm and rubber plantations have also displaced the Bagyeli, and their former forest habitats have become “no-go” areas for them. They rarely receive compensation for their land, jobs, health care or other benefits. 38. The national land tenure laws are particularly problematic for Pygmies, since they recognize those who develop the land as eligible for land concessions or compensation if they are required to be relocated for development projects. The Pygmies, however, are only considered to occupy the forest and have consequently not been granted rights of ownership or given compensation when they have been relocated. The Government pointed out that the 1994 law on the rules governing the forests authorizes the reassignment to the local Pygmy and Bantou peoples of a share of annual forest and faunal royalties that amounts to 12 per cent.20 It is unclear whether this has been honoured in practice and how such an allocation has been provided or used to assist communities. 39. Pygmies commonly lack education and skills, and have no access to employment or any form of income-generating activities. They frequently lack agricultural skills and training. In some cases, they face exploitation for their labour or are subject to abuse by others who see them as backwards and undeveloped. Some Bantu communities reportedly treat Pygmies as their property, and use them in what amounts to conditions of forced labour. There are few avenues for Pygmies to take up their issues, since they are almost totally excluded from political and decision-making bodies at all levels. 40. A number of government-supported programmes are aimed at improving the living conditions of Pygmy groups. In July 2013, the Ministry of Social Affairs announced the second phase of its development plan for Pygmy peoples, implemented by the National Participatory Development Programme. Under the plan, some 800 million CFA francs have been allocated to activities for Pygmy peoples in 31 municipalities in the Centre, East and South regions. Components of the plan focus on key areas of concern, including citizenship, education, agriculture, health, inter-community dialogue and land security. 41. Cameroon adopted a plan for the development of the Pygmy peoples within the framework of its poverty reduction strategy paper. A plan for indigenous and vulnerable peoples has also been developed in the context of the oil pipeline carrying oil from Chad to the Cameroonian port of Kribi.21 The international non-governmental organization Plan International is working with the Ministry of Basic Education to pilot the use of the Baka language in some primary schools, and hopes to demonstrate an improvement in education outcomes for the Baka who undertake the programme compared to those who attend schools using only the official languages. School books and teaching materials appropriate 19 20 21 12 See the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on his mission to Cameroon (A/HRC/22/50/Add.2), para. 16. CERD/C/CMR/15-18, para. 86. See www.iwgia.org/images/stories/sections/regions/africa/documents/IW2010/cameroon_iw_2010.pdf.