INTRODUCTION
The United Nations instituted the International Day of Indigenous Peoples in 1994. This day is being celebrated 
every 9th of August; reason being that it coincides with the date of the first working session of the Sub Commission working to address discrimination and the protection of minorities who came together in 1982 and decided that 1983 will be considered as “The International Year of the Indigenous Peoples”. Cameroon being a member of the United Nations started celebrating this day officially last year. This year the celebration was carried out in three regions (North West, East, and Centre) on a theme and objectives defined by the Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS). In the North West Region the Cultural Adviser at the Governor’s Office representing the Governor chaired this day. Also present, were the Regional Delegate of the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Deputy Delegate of the Bamenda City Council, the Chief Technical Adviser of International Labour Organization (ILO) Office Bamenda and other partners. Also it is worth mentioning that the actual day is Sunday the 9th August, but it was celebrated in the North West Region on Saturday the 8th for convenience mindful of the fact that activities marking the celebration have already been launched on the 5th in the East Region by the Minister of Social Affairs Catherine Bakam Mbock. This year's theme was “Marginalized Populations, Rich and Diverse Cultures, a means to Development in the Context of Globalisation”
.MBOSCUDA received a grant from ILO worth 932,000CFA adding to the minimum financial contribution by MBOSCUDA and MINAS, which made it very possible for the occasion to be celebrated in a grand style.
PLANNED AND REALIZED ACTIVITIES
Preparatory Meetings: Several preparatory meetings were held with the regional representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs at the Regional Delegation. Discussions were centred on the activities marking the day. The Regional Chief of Service for Elderly and Disable (Mrs. Nkwate Rebecca) at the MINAS regional office took the responsibility of engaging all the relevant government services and other stakeholders required by drafting invitation letters and also making contact visits to the various offices with MBOSCUDA NW Programme Coordinator. The programme was also drawn up by the Regional Delegation in consultation with MBOSCUDA NW.
Media programmes: A round table conference was carried out over CRTV Bamenda to sensitize the public on issues of marginalised population and public initiatives for their development. The media discussion that involved four panellists from International Labour Organisation (ILO) Bamenda, MBOSCUDA and the Regional Delegation of Social Affairs was centred on the four subthemes formulated by the Ministry of Social Affairs as follows.
· “Marginalized Population and Participation in Development”
· “Marginalized Population, Diversity and Cultural Riches”
· “Protection of Traditional know-how of Marginalized Population, Reservation of Ecosystem and Biodiversity
· “Marginalized Population; Information and Training”.
The discussion over CRTV Bamenda took about 60 minutes. Another thirty minutes discussion each were carried out over Radio Hot Coco, Abakwa Radio Station and Foundation Radio by MBOSCUDA sensitizing the public on the main activities concerning the celebration of the International Day of Indigenous Population particularly in the North West Region.
Open Day: Friday the 7th of August 2009 was allocated as an Open Day where the public was invited to the 
MBOSCUDA Secretariat and MINAS Regional Offices for information, educative talks, questions and answers sessions on the Mbororo Community, the International Day of Indigenous Population and MBOSCUDA. Twenty three (23) persons mostly non-Mbororo and some few Mbororo people were received in both the Ministry of Social Affairs and MBOSCUDA NW offices on this day. Information such as copies of the MBSOCUDA brochure, ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and some background information on Mbororo Pastoralists were made available and distributed to the visitors.
