By Aya Ndep Arrey
Cameroonian Mariatou Yap, has been elected to uphold the mantle at the International Civil Defense Organization ICDO as new Secretary-General.
The elections took place recently in Geneva-Switzerland, headquarters of the ICDO, during its 53rd general assembly.
Reports reveal that, Mariatou is the first woman ever to assume this position in the intergovernmental organization, since it was created in France, 1996 by member states, Cameroon inclusive.
The Cameroonian, believed to come from the West region, won her way to the position with 30 votes to 23 against her Lebanese rival, with one ballot discovered to have been cast empty at the time of confirmation.
Yap who is currently Director of Civil Protection at the Ministry of Territorial Administration is now set to replace the former SG of the intergovernmental organization, Vladimir Kushinov, a Russian national.
“This is victory for Cameroon, I will first start by thanking my President H.E Paul Biya, because he is the person who trusted me by submitting my candidacy to the ICDO and to all the ministers like the External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Njie, and all actors like the permanent mission in Geneva. All these people supported me during the campaigns and that’s why today Cameroon has won this trophy.” Said the newly elected SG
In the same light, Cameroon’s Ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Solomon Eheth, defined the victory as Cameroon’s diplomatic train under the supervision of the Head of State Paul Biya.
“You can imagine that we are happy, this is an important victory of Cameroonian diplomacy under the leadership of H.E Biya Paul. This victory is a result of a meticulous work of our diplomacy under the leadership of the
Minister of External Relations and all the colleagues and Ambassadors everywhere. This is a very important position for Cameroon.” He stated
