Centre for Youth and Sustainable Development

Drive lasting change by equipping communities, especially youth, women, and children, with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need for improved literacy, personal well-being, and economic self-sufficiency.

The Centre for Youth and Sustainable Development (CYSD) is a non-profit community-based organisation founded in 2016 and formally registered under Cameroon’s 1990 Associations Law (Registration No. 654/G37/C84/VO1/I/SASC of 26th September 2019). We operate from Buea in the South West Region of Cameroon and maintain active membership in the Cameroon Education Cluster and the Rotary E‑Club of Raleigh International.

At CYSD, our mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable groups, orphans, street children, internally displaced youth affected by the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, young women, sex workers, and rural communities. Since our inception, we have designed and implemented programs in:

Education & Child Protection, Youth & Women’s Empowerment, Health & Community Well‑Being, Sustainable Agriculture & Livelihood Development:

The Centre for Youth and Sustainable Development (CYSD) has been at the forefront of grassroots humanitarian and development efforts in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, responding to the urgent needs created by the ongoing crisis. So far, CYSD has reached over 1,200 out-of-school children, providing them with access to basic education and protection services in hard-to-reach and conflict-affected communities.

In addition to its education-focused interventions, CYSD has empowered 50 community women through hands-on training in agroecology, providing them with seedlings and supporting income-generating activities aimed at strengthening household resilience and food security. The organisation has also conducted health awareness campaigns and distributed hygiene kits to 150 internally displaced women and girls, addressing menstrual hygiene needs and contributing to the fight against period poverty.

Our urgent priority is to bring out-of-school children back into classrooms in hard-to-reach communities, where many have been deprived of education for more than eight years. These children, aged 3 to 17, are among the most vulnerable young girls often forced into early marriages or exploited through transactional sex, while boys face recruitment into non-state armed groups or fall into cycles of drug abuse.

Without immediate action, an entire generation risks being lost to violence, exploitation, and despair. At the Centre for Youth and Sustainable Development (CYSD), we believe education is the most powerful tool to break this cycle. By increasing school enrollment and supporting regular school attendance, we can give these children not only the chance to learn but also the hope of a safer, brighter future.