In Cameroon, decent work in construction is rebuilding lives

BAMENDA (ILO News) - Young people in Cameroon's North-West Region are gaining practical construction skills, earning an income and working in safer conditions through an International Labour Organization project that is helping communities rebuild both infrastructure and trust. In a region affected by prolonged crisis, the project is showing how decent work can support recovery, strengthen social cohesion and give young women and men a more stable path forward.

Supported by the African Development Bank, the project "Implementing activities to support the employability of young people through employment-intensive investment" is being carried out in Bamenda until 31 December 2026. It is part of a wider effort to improve employability and create jobs for young people through labour-intensive public works under Cameroon's transport support programme.

Female trainees take part in shaping the carriageway at the Tubah training worksite in Cameroon under an ILO project to support the employability of young people through employment-intensive investments.

Across ten project sites, young people have been trained in construction-related activities while contributing to works that respond to local needs, including maintaining road sections and building market sheds. The approach is rooted in local participation: councils identify young people from communities closest to the worksites first, before extending opportunities to neighbouring communities, with attention to women and vulnerable groups. This has helped ensure that the benefits of the project reach those who need them most while reducing perceptions of bias.

The impact goes beyond temporary work. By combining practical training with real job experience, the project is helping participants develop marketable skills that can strengthen their employability well beyond the life of the works. The International Labour Organization's broader employment-intensive investment approach in Cameroon is designed to build local capacity, expand access to work opportunities and promote sustainable infrastructure development through labour-based methods.

The project is also putting decent work principles into practice on site. Participants are provided with personal protective equipment and safer working environments. They receive weekly payments through mobile money based on days worked, and they are covered by workplace accident insurance. Trainees also elect one male and one female representative to support dialogue with project partners and help address concerns early and peacefully.

Trainees receive personal protective equipment at the Tubah training worksite in Cameroon as part of an ILO project supporting the employability of young people through employment-intensive investments.

For Claude Yao Kouame, Director of the Decent Work Team for Central Africa and the ILO Country Office in Yaoundé, which serves Cameroon and the subregion, the value of the project lies in the way it connects infrastructure investment to people's lives. "When public works create jobs, build skills and protect workers, they do more than improve roads or community facilities," he said. "They help restore dignity, strengthen confidence and support peace in communities affected by crisis."

Etienne Tah Tayong, the project's National Coordinator, said the results can already be seen in the way young people are engaging in the works and in their communities. "Young people are not only learning technical skills," he said. "They are gaining work experience, earning income and taking on a constructive role in rebuilding their communities. That is what makes this approach so important."

In the North-West Region, those gains matter far beyond the construction sites themselves. According to project reporting, integrating decent work into construction helps strengthen community cohesion through shared economic opportunities, reduce vulnerability to recruitment into armed groups, enhance trust in development actors and institutions, and promote dignity and human rights. In this way, the project is helping show that decent work is not only an employment objective, but also a practical contribution to peacebuilding and recovery.