By Decree No. 75/467 of June 28, 1975, the Directorate of Social Affairs was established as a full-fledged ministerial department. The Ministry of Social Affairs was organized by Decree No. 75/723 of November 19, 1975. Ms. Delphine TSANGA, an economist, was appointed head of this ministerial department and became the first woman to join the government. Like any ministerial department, there are Central Services and External Services. There were two Directorates: the Directorate of Private Assistance and the Directorate of Social Development. The External Services were the Provincial Services of Social Affairs, the Departmental Sectors of Social Affairs, and the Social Posts.
Decree No. 77/495 of December 7, 1977, established the conditions for the operation and creation of Private Social Works (PSWs). Decree No. 78/056 of February 23, 1978, created the National Center for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, which had been initiated by Canadian Cardinal Emile Paul Léger. Decree No. 80/199 of June 9, 1980, created the National School of Social Affairs Assistants (ENAAS) in Yaoundé. A minor innovation occurred in 1981, with Decree No. 81/295 of July 23, which created a Women's Advancement and Defense Service within the Ministry of Social Affairs.
NATIONAL RENEWAL AND SOCIAL SERVICE
Since social service is a corollary to the history of humanity, and social exclusion is a secular phenomenon in all societies, it was necessary for Cameroon to comprehensively combat social problems and place people at the center of any sustainable development process. It is in this sense that the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Paul BIYA, has made solidarity a duty that must underpin the social development strategy since it is essential to the emergence and flourishing of a modern Cameroonian society. Also, in his work For Community Liberalism published in 1987, he very opportunely emphasizes that: "modern Cameroonian society, whose emergence and flourishing we call for, would be a giant with feet of clay if it did not draw on its traditional values, which are as numerous as they are enriching. One of these fundamental values is the sense of community, presented here as a duty of solidarity." This political vision is reflected in the establishment of a number of reference instruments for its operationalization, such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and its subsequent developments, which will lead to the projection of socio-economic development in the form of a vision for 2035, the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, and many other related projects and programs.
Among the acts marking the evolution of this renewal of the Social Service, 1984 saw the arrival of Mrs. Rose ZANG NGUELE as Minister of Social Affairs. By decree No. 88/772 of May 16, 1988, organizing the Government, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Status of Women was created, and Ms. YAOU AÏSSATOU presided over its destiny until 1997.
In 1992, the training offer for Social Services Personnel was enriched by the opening of the Social Affairs Inspectors program at ENAM by decree. Decree 95/100 of June 9, 1995, reorganized the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Status of Women. Its purpose was the social advancement of women and children without any discrimination and with the full guarantee of equal rights in the political, socio-educational, and cultural fields. Decree 97/207 of 7 December 1997, on the formation of the new government, created the Ministry of Social Affairs (MINAS) on the one hand and the Ministry of Women's Affairs (MINCOF) on the other. This brings us back to the situation of 1984. Dr. Marie Madeleine FOUDA was appointed head of the Ministry of Social Affairs. She was replaced in 2002 by Dr. Cécile BOMBA NKOLO.