With less than 24 hours to go before the official opening of proceedings, the Senate of Cameroon shifted into final preparation mode on Monday. The corridors of the upper house were busy, the meetings relentless, and the attention to detail unsparing.

The day began with an evaluation meeting convened under the chairmanship of the Secretary General of the Senate, Gustave Léopold Ngane, bringing together the principal administrative officials responsible for the organisation of the event. Nothing was left to chance. Protocol arrangements, security logistics, technical installations and communication strategy were each reviewed in turn. The overall assessment, by those present, was one of broad satisfaction. The Senate, it appears, is ready.

That internal review was followed by a second, equally important gathering, this time bringing together representatives of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the European Parliament and the host parliament around the same table. The agenda focused on the fine print of the Steering Committee session scheduled to open the following day, Tuesday 24 March, ensuring full alignment between the three institutions on the conduct of proceedings and the expected outcomes of the two-day meeting.

As the administrative machinery was being fine-tuned indoors, the first prominent arrivals were already making their way to Yaoundé. Among those received on Monday evening were the Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong, whose presence in the Cameroonian capital ahead of the conference underlines the international significance of what is about to unfold.