Last updated: 11 November 2026
DIRA Foundation is a non-profit association based in Bamenda, Cameroon. This page gives a practical overview of our website terms and privacy practices. It is not legal advice; please contact us if you need clarification.
Terms of Use
By using this website, you agree to use it lawfully and respectfully. These terms apply to the public pages, articles, programme information, volunteer application form and online donation form.
Information about our work
Website content is provided for general information about DIRA Foundation and its activities. Programme plans, dates, eligibility, budgets, targets and opportunities may change. Contact us to confirm current details before making decisions or commitments. Nothing on this site is professional, financial, legal or investment advice.
Applications, partnerships and donations
Applying to volunteer, expressing interest in a programme or proposing a partnership does not guarantee selection, funding, participation or any other outcome. Donations are voluntary and are used to advance the Foundation's lawful objectives. Online donations are processed by our payment provider, Fapshi, under its own terms. Contact us promptly at foundation@diracmr.com if a payment appears incorrect.
Content and acceptable use
Unless otherwise stated, the text and materials published by DIRA Foundation belong to the Foundation or are used with permission. Third-party names, marks, photographs and links may belong to their respective owners. Do not copy, alter, republish or use materials in a way that misrepresents their source or violates another person's rights.
Do not attempt to disrupt the site, access non-public systems, interfere with other users, submit unlawful or misleading material, or use the site to distribute malicious code. We may restrict access where necessary to protect the site, users or Foundation.
External services and availability
The site may link to external platforms, including Fapshi, social networks, email services and partner websites. Those services operate under their own terms and privacy practices; DIRA Foundation does not control them. We aim to keep the website available and accurate but cannot promise uninterrupted access or that every page will always be error-free.
Responsibility and governing law
To the extent permitted by applicable law, DIRA Foundation is not responsible for losses arising from reliance on general website information, temporary unavailability, or third-party websites and services. Nothing in these terms excludes responsibility that cannot lawfully be excluded. These terms are governed by the laws applicable in Cameroon, subject to any mandatory protections that apply to you.
Zero Tolerance Policy
1. Purpose
DIRA Foundation works with young people, women, entrepreneurs and communities across Cameroon. Many of the people who take part in our programmes depend on us for training, support or access to opportunities, and that gives anyone acting for the foundation a position of trust. This policy sets out the conduct the foundation does not accept, what it expects of everyone who acts in its name, and what happens when the policy is breached.
2. Scope
This policy applies to members of the Executive Committee and the General Assembly, staff, volunteers, trainers, mentors and consultants, and to partners, contractors, suppliers and anyone else who represents the foundation or works on its programmes. It applies at all times during foundation activities, online and offline, including outside working hours where the person is identified with the foundation.
3. Definitions
- Sexual exploitation: any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, power or trust for sexual purposes, including profiting financially, socially or politically from it.
- Sexual abuse: any actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.
- Sexual harassment: unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including comments, messages, requests for sexual favours and physical contact, that offends, humiliates or intimidates.
- Gender-based violence: any harmful act directed at a person because of their sex or gender, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence.
- Child abuse: any act or failure to act that harms or puts at risk a person under 18, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect and exploitation.
- Bribery and corruption: offering, giving, requesting or accepting money, gifts, favours or any other advantage to influence a decision or obtain an unfair benefit.
- Fraud: deception intended to obtain money, property or an advantage, including false claims, forged documents and inflated invoices.
- Misuse of funds: using foundation or donor resources for purposes other than those for which they were given.
4. Prohibited conduct
Anyone covered by this policy must not:
- commit, attempt or threaten any act of sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment or gender-based violence;
- engage in sexual activity with anyone under 18, whatever the local age of consent, and whatever they believe the person's age to be;
- exchange money, employment, places on a programme, grades, certificates, goods or services for sex or for any other personal favour;
- ask a participant, beneficiary or community member for money or any benefit in return for training, selection, support or services, all of which the foundation provides free of such conditions;
- offer, give, request or accept a bribe, or accept a gift from a participant, applicant or supplier beyond token value;
- falsify records, attendance lists, receipts or reports, or use foundation or donor funds for unauthorised purposes;
- take part in a decision where they have an undeclared personal or financial interest;
- discriminate against, bully or humiliate any person;
- take, share or publish images of children, or of any person in a vulnerable situation, without informed consent (from a parent or guardian in the case of a child);
- retaliate against anyone who reports a concern or takes part in an investigation.
5. Duties
Everyone covered by this policy must report any concern or suspicion of a breach as soon as they become aware of it, declare any conflict of interest in writing, and cooperate fully with any investigation. Activities with participants under 18 are run with at least two adults present and, where possible, with the knowledge of a parent or guardian. Volunteers and trainers are briefed on this policy before they take part in foundation activities and confirm in writing that they will follow it.
6. Reporting a concern
Anyone can report a concern, including participants, parents, partners and members of the public. Reports can be made by email to foundation@diracmr.com with the subject "Confidential concern", or in person to any member of the Executive Committee. A report does not need to be certain or complete, and it can be made anonymously. A person named in a report takes no part in handling it.
7. How reports are handled
Every report is recorded, acknowledged and assessed by the Executive Committee, which decides on interim measures, such as suspending a person from activities, while the facts are established. Information is shared only with those who need it to deal with the report. Where a report concerns a possible crime, the foundation refers it to the competent authorities and cooperates with them. Where a report concerns a funded project, the foundation informs the funder as the funding agreement requires.
8. Support and protection
The foundation puts the safety, wishes and dignity of the person affected first. With their consent, it refers them to medical, psychosocial or legal support available locally. No one who reports a concern in good faith will be dismissed, excluded from programmes or otherwise penalised for doing so.
9. Sanctions
A breach of this policy is serious misconduct. Depending on the facts, the foundation removes the person from all activities, ends their membership, engagement or contract, recovers any funds lost, and refers the matter to the authorities. A partner or contractor involved in a breach, or that fails to report one, loses its partnership or contract with the foundation. Knowingly making a false report is also a breach of this policy.
10. Partners and contractors
The foundation shares this policy with its partners and contractors and includes its standards in partnership agreements and contracts. Partners are expected to hold their own personnel to the same standards when working on joint activities and to report any concern that involves foundation programmes.
11. Review
The Executive Committee reviews this policy every year, and sooner if the law changes or a case shows that it needs strengthening.
Privacy Notice
We handle personal information with care and use it to communicate with people, coordinate Foundation activities, administer donations and maintain the website. We do not sell personal information.
Information you choose to provide
- Contact enquiries: the name, email, organisation, phone number and message you enter in the contact or collaboration form. Messages are stored in the foundation's database and sent to the foundation's team by email.
- Volunteer applications: the details you enter, which can include contact information, date of birth, gender, education, skills, availability, emergency contact and motivation. If you upload a CV, it is stored with your application. Applications are stored in the foundation's database and the foundation receives an email notice for each new application.
- Donations: the amount and optional email you enter are sent to our payment provider, Fapshi, to create a checkout. Fapshi collects and processes payment details directly under its own privacy notice and terms.
- Article administration: information submitted to the password-protected editor by authorised administrators, including article text and images. Published material is visible publicly. Article records are stored in the Foundation's configured database and images may be stored with its image-hosting provider.
Technical information and storage
Our hosting and infrastructure providers may process standard technical information such as IP address, request time, browser details and requested page in service logs and for security, diagnostics and operation of the site. The donation page temporarily stores a transaction reference and a signed status-check token in your browser's session storage so it can check the result after you return from checkout. The administrator area uses an essential signed, HttpOnly session cookie to keep authorised administrators signed in. We do not use advertising cookies or analytics trackers on this website.
How information is used and shared
We use information to reply to enquiries, assess and coordinate volunteer applications, communicate about programmes and partnerships, reconcile donation transactions, publish articles, and protect and maintain the website. Information may be handled by service providers supporting email, hosting, database, image storage or payment services, and may be disclosed where required by law or reasonably necessary to protect people, rights or the Foundation. Providers may process information in countries other than Cameroon.
Retention and your choices
We keep messages and application information for as long as needed for the relevant communication, programme administration, safeguarding, accountability or legal obligations, then delete or anonymise it when reasonably practicable. Published articles and associated records may be retained as part of the Foundation's public record. Technical logs and payment records may be retained by our service providers under their own policies and applicable requirements.
You may contact us to ask about personal information you have sent, request a correction or deletion where appropriate, or raise a privacy concern. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information where required for legal, safeguarding or accountability reasons. Your rights depend on applicable law.
Children and sensitive information
Please do not include sensitive personal information about yourself or another person unless it is necessary for your enquiry or application. If you provide information about someone else, make sure you are authorised to do so. A parent or guardian should contact us before submitting information on behalf of a child.
Changes and contact
We may update this notice as the website or our practices change. The latest version will be posted on this page with its revision date. For questions or privacy requests, email foundation@diracmr.com.