Global Conscience Initiative is a registered not-for-profit organisation, independent of any government, political or religious affiliations. Based in Kumba, Southwest Province, Cameroon, the organisation was founded on November 1, 2004, originally registeredas Youths for Peace Initiative Cameroon (YPIC) (No. G39/14/5/1006); its goal was to build peace through the promotion and protection of human rights through youth clubs. On November 5, 2005, the Executive Board resolved to change the name to Global Conscience Initiative (GCI) to better represent its new mission of involving all citizens in the peace-building process.
GCI’s vision is to build a strong global conscience, through which the citizens of Cameroon can work together to promote and protect all basic human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Based on the belief that lasting peace must come from within a people and their own culture, GCI focuses on working with individual citizens as well as the media, government bodies, local councils, law enforcement and judicial systems. Through this, GCI facilitates the creation of networks of conscientious organisations and individuals who work together to promote democracy and human rights. By encouraging and empowering civil society to play an active role in supporting peace and development, reawakening the consciences of government, and providing educational and workshop opportunities for individuals from all areas of society, GCI strives to help strengthen the communities with which it works.
GCI works with and for grassroots populations, victims of human rights abuses, prisoners, children, women, migrant workers and other disadvantaged and voiceless persons. Since 2004, GCI has successfully operated a number of projects aimed at increasing awareness of human rights and ensuring more humane conditions for the people of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. GCI has brought back home hundreds of wrongfully-detained captives and comforted thousands of afflicted persons throughout the region. It has improved justice in small village communities around Kumba, and it has campaigned vigorously to protect the media, to rid the government of rampant corruption, and to protect the human rights and civil liberties of all Cameroonian citizens.
Global Conscience operates in monitoring, protecting and promoting the following:
- Human rights (as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
- Democracy and good governance
- Access to justice, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, economic status, political persuasion, or social standing
- Peaceful conflict resolution
- Access to legal defense and counseling
- Research, advocacy, and public education on human rights