Inspiring journalist, civil society actor and founder of The Welisane Foundation, Welisane Mokwe Nkeng is the winner of a Humanitarian Champion Award for the year 2023.
The Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers’ Association (CENPA), conferred the respected and merited recognition on the humanitarian worker in Yaounde on Thursday, July 25. She was announced winner of the award category during the CENPA Award Night at the Hilton Hotel.
Welisane, the award organisers said, won given her, “exciting leadership and rallying power in pioneering broad-based humanitarian activities that have reduced burdens of women, girls and thousands of underprivileged persons within and outside Cameroon through The Welisane Foundation”.
“This award means a lot to me and for the humanitarian work we are doing. We do not do humanitarian work expecting a reward, but when such is recognized like this, it is an encouragement that we should keep doing the work,” Welisane told reporters after receiving the CENPA Award.
The Founder of the Welisane Foundation is an iron lady who has not stopped crisscrossing the globe and Cameroon in particular always seeking to raise funds to assist the vulnerable, women and girls in particular. Welisane has remained firm in recent years on rolling back cancer and raising awareness on preventing it from among the women folk.
The award-winning civil society actor has also been unbending in raising awareness on menstrual hygiene and reaching out to thousands of Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria.
She is among the few Cameroonians who have out of a personal conviction of doing good raised resources and offered humanitarian support to thousands of compatriots who fled violence in the English speaking regions and are now seeking refuge in Nigeria.
In 2021, she and her partners offered menstrual hygiene kits to 1,073 young Anglophone crisis refugees in the Adagon Refugee Camp in Cross River State, Nigeria. During the 2021/2022 school year, she spearheaded a FCFA 20 million fund raising drive for the same refugees.
She has also been active battling maternal mortality in the North Region of the country.
She is currently a Doctorate student in International Relations at the Geneva school of Diplomacy with focus on Transnational Terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin area.
Welisane who was born in Kumbo, Bui Division of the North West Region is a native of Big Masaka Chiefdom in the Bekondo Court Area, Mbonge Subdivision, Meme Division of the South West Region.
Her primary education was at CNPS Bamenda, Catholic School Bayelle. For secondary education, she studied at the Saker Baptist College Limbe and Baptist High School Buea.
She read Journalism and Mass Communication at University of Buea. She also holds a Masters in International Communication and Public Action from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC) and another Masters in International Relations with specialty in Diplomacy from same institution.
Welisane Mokwe Nkeng, is a known Gender Advocate, Diplomat, Communication expert and Philanthropist. She has several other caps and recognitions such as; Vice President Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Food Security in Africa Assembly – Cameroon; World Pulse Ambassador 2019 & 2020; Global Goodwill Ambassador 2019; World Peace Ambassador for World Peace Tract; Country Director of Youth Peace and Leadership Organisation; Director of Communication for Cameroon India Business Council; World Pulse Ambassador 2019 & 2020, Global Goodwill Ambassador 2019, World Peace Ambassador for World Peace Tract among others.
