America.gov (Washington, DC)
Jane Morse
21 August 2008
In Cameroon, Aissatou Yaou shows that women can be good wives and mothers while working as successful professionals in the worlds of government and business.
A mother of four and a devout Muslim, Yaou was the first woman to head Cameroon's Ministry of Women's Affairs. When she left the government in 2000, she was also the longest-serving woman, with 16 years in government.
Today she heads the National Investment Corporation (Société Nationale d'Investissement or SNI), a state-owned corporation to promote economic and social development in Cameroon.
When Yaou received her ministerial appointment in 1984, it was unheard of in Cameroon for a woman to hold a senior post. Even her impressive academic credentials -- a graduate of the universities of Mans and Rouen and the Claremont Graduate School in California -- did not guarantee success in Cameroon at that time.
Since then, she has used her personal experiences to persuade others to open doors for women. She held a meeting with men in Cameroon's North Province on the importance of educating girls -- a tough task in a society where early marriages are the norm and children, especially girls, are often kept at home to help with household chores. Using herself as an example, she revolutionized the enrollment of girls into primary schools in North Province, where she was born in 1951.
As minister of women's affairs (and later, minister of social and women's affairs) Yaou promoted and implemented laws that changed the lives of women in Cameroon. For example, she removed the requirement that wives get permission from their husbands to travel and she established women's empowerment centers nationwide.
In 1999 she organized the "Spotlight Night on the Cameroonian Woman," which recognized the achievements of some 30 women in a range of fields, including politics, sports, media, business and culture.
Yaou led the Cameroonian delegation to the 1995 U.N. Women's Conference in Beijing and afterwards created committees to deal with the 12 priority goals set at the conference.
Yaou left the government in 2000 to return to SNI, where she had worked from 1979 to 1984 as a senior officer, and was appointed general manager in 2003. During her tenure, SNI has taken an active role in creating private companies in Cameroon.
Yaou is also the national president of the Women's Organization of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (WCPDM). She previously served as secretary-general of the Chantal Biya Foundation, a national nongovernmental organization headed by Cameroon's first lady and respected for its HIV/AIDS work.
Her work also has won the admiration of the United States. Yaou was nominated for the 2008 Women of Courage Award inaugurated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The award, now in its second year, is the result of Rice's desire to recognize women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in promoting women's rights and advancement. (See "United States Honors Eight Female Champions of Human Rights.")
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