In October 2017, the Global Shapers Community of the Yaounde hub organized a voter registration drive to encourage young adults to register to vote not only during Cameroon's recent Presidential elections which took place in October 2018. The Yaounde hub partnered with ELECAM, the Directorate General of Elections, to mobilize and impact over 500 prospective voters in one week.
The objective of the event was to sensitize youths on their civic rights and duties focusing on the right and duty to vote. The presence of ELECAM on site served as incentive and encouraged youths to register on the electoral list. The Yaounde shapers strongly believe that voting is more than a political action, it is a matter of survival. Young people under 35 represent over 70% of the population in Cameroon, and yet they are the most underrepresented across leadership positions in the country. Unemployment and underemployment has been on the rise over the last ten years. Civil unrests in the Southwest and Northwest and Northern Cameroon are a threat to Cameroon's stability and prosperity. Although younger generations are more and more empowered by social media, the Yaounde hub sought to ensure that this powerful confidence expressed on our keyboards translated into voter cards used during elections. With municipal and legislatives elections coming up next year, the Yaounde hub plans to organize several other voting regisration drives across the country to increase the number of registered voters.