Citizen Monitoring of Public Policy in Cameroon

In this first issue, Citizens' Lenses makes a bold entry-not only into the media landscape, already saturated with text, sound, and images, but also into the daring critique of the performance of public authorities. The first challenge addressed concerns the threat to human rights. Internal and external security risks, coupled with emergency laws, have resulted in the shrinking of civic space through the use of arbitrary and authoritarian practices under the pretext of protecting public order (which is unthinkingly contrasted with social order). Issues of gender and decentralization are among the most controversial topics, as attempts to reach a consensus on them provoke fanaticism-if not outright fantasies-as well as arguments rooted in superiority complexes and outdated ideologies. These ideological disputes are stalling the debate, which is further undermined by international comparisons that focus on failures rather than on successes and best practices.