Meet Mary Jane Yaya: The Unsung Humanitarian Heroine

Mary Jane Yaya Chin

Mary Jane Yaya Chin is a young Gender Based Violence activist fighting to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in the South West Region of Cameroon. She is a dynamic communication expert who has left her comfort zone in the past four years and stepped into the development and humanitarian action sphere to ensure the safety and comfort of women and girls affected grossly by the ongoing armed conflict in the two English-Speaking Regions of Cameroon.

To better achieve her goal, she founded Grace Chin Foundation (GCF) in 2018 which is an organization serving as an umbrella for her activities to be carried out meaningfully and in a coordinated manner. According to Mary Jane, GCF stepped into the humanitarian space with one vision; “To feed and clothe IDPs” as an emergency response to the deteriorating situation of IDPs in the environs of Fako subdivision in the SWR of Cameroon as in what she referred to as “Goodwill gesture”.

However, the narratives have later transformed into complex and demanding responsibilities over the years. “But as the years went on, the needs of the people increased coupled with human rights violations; the demand for our services grew more and gave me a bigger picture of our vision which fighting for the safety of our people regardless of gender or ethnicity to lead them to where food will not be a problem, where girls will not be ashamed to be themselves, where abuse is not a norm, where women’s rights are valid and respected”, says Mary Jane.

GCF is currently intervening in the Tole, mile 18, mile 16, mile 14, Bonavada, Buea Town, and Sandpit communities in the SWR of Cameroon and according to Mary Jane, the strength of her voice with support from her team has reached an estimated number of 2,000 women and girls within the GBV activism space.

Within this space, she advocates against Rape, Female Genital Mutilation, Child Marriages, and Child Labour and promotes Menstrual Hygiene Management and Reproductive Health Rights. She further empowers women to stand out socioeconomically through Vocational training and donation of seed capital for start-ups for income generation and livelihood support.

Mary Jane has a passion to continue as a trailblazer in this space as an individual, through partnerships, networking, and humanitarian clusters. “I had always had the passion to work as a humanitarian, so I gave no limits to the organizations that may need to partner or contact me as an affiliate”.

Recognizing the efforts of this heroine is an initiative of Common Action for Gender Development (COMAGEND)) in partnership with the Cameroon Community Media Network (CCMN)