International Conference
A Conference, one day, four thematic areas.
Oral presentations, posters, symposia and workshops.
In sub-Saharan Africa, healthcare systems face a dual challenge: on the one hand, the technical and epidemiological management of pathologies amid multidimensional precarity; on the other, accounting for the lived experience, perception, and meaning that populations attribute to illness, the body, and healing.
Contemporary medicine, dominated by the biomedical model grounded in the positivist paradigm and Evidence-Based Medicine, often approaches the body as a machine, an instrument to be repaired (the body-object). Yet phenomenology restores priority to the body-subject in Merleau-Ponty’s sense, offering an understanding of the body as it is experienced from within.
This international conference seeks to move beyond this body-subject/body-object anthropological dualism within the African context, where the experience of illness is never purely individual, let alone strictly biological; it is embedded in a network of social relations, spiritual inheritances, and cosmological frameworks of meaning. Phenomenology thus offers the methodological tools needed to listen to, describe, and integrate these lived experiences of the sick without reducing them to mere irrationality. Four thematic axes have been selected:
Axis 1
Epistemology of Care and Phenomenology of Illness in Africa.
Axis 3
Phenomenological Methodologies in Multidisciplinary Health Research.
Please see the general guidelines for submitting papers
Axis 2
The Lived Body (Subject) and the Biological Body in Healthcare Practices.
Axis 4
Ethics of Care, Public Policy, and Cognitive Justice.
Calendar
Conference Timeline
September 15, 2026 :
Launch of the call for papers
November 30, 2026 :
Deadline for abstract submission.
Décembre 31, 2026 :
eadline for full-text submission.
January 15, 2027 :
Deadline for the Scientific Committee’s response.
January 20, 2027 :
Deadline for registration at preferential rates.
January 22, 2027 :
Publication date of the official program.
January 27, 2027 :
Start of the Conference.
Place
Croix-Rouge, Yaounde
Submit my paper
Key guidelines
Stages of the paper submission process
Proposals for papers must be submitted exclusively through the conference website no later than November 30.
To do so, please follow these steps:
- Step 1: Access the submission platform via the following link: [Insert link]
- Step 2: Click “Create an account” if you do not yet have one on this platform; or enter your login credentials (email; password) if you already have an account.
- Step 3: Log in to your account, then, on the right, under the “Your Account” submenu, click “Submissions,” then “Submit a new paper.”
- Step 4: Fill in all fields marked with a red asterisk, then click “Submit.”
NB: You will receive a confirmation email in your inbox acknowledging receipt of your submission.
Requirements for Abstracts
The abstract for oral or poster presentations based on empirical research, meta-analyses, meta-syntheses, or systematic reviews must include:
- The research problem
- The study’s objective or hypothesis
- The methodology (research method, participants, sampling technique and size, data analysis strategy)
- Main findings in relation to the objective or hypothesis
- Conclusion
- 4 to 6 keywords
The abstract for papers arising from theoretical reflection must include:
- Introduction
- Elements of the research problem
- Objective
- Brief presentation of the main ideas developed
- Conclusion
- 4 to 6 keywords
Texts must comply with the presentation standards for scientific writing (APA 6th edition).
Submission criteria and procedures
- Submissions made by email will not be accepted.
- Submissions must be made in French or English.
- The title must not exceed 20 words.
- The abstract must be 300 words, with a margin of up to 20 words.
Selection procedure and authors’ obligations
- Submitting an abstract does not constitute registration for the conference.
- Submitting an abstract entails a commitment that, if the abstract is accepted, the presenter will attend the conference and will have the financial resources necessary to ensure their participation (registration fees, travel, accommodation where applicable, etc.).
- If the lead author is unable to attend, a co-author may deliver the presentation, provided the registration fee has been paid.
- An author may submit several papers.
- Only abstracts for which at least one author or co-author has paid the registration fee will be included in the conference program.
- If a paper proposal is accepted, authors wishing to publish their work in the conference proceedings must submit the full text of the article no later than December 30, 2026.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Any cancellation of participation and/or refund request must be made by email to the organizing committee (colloque20227@gress-……).
- Cancellation before December 31, 2026: Full refund, less 25% for administrative fees.
- Cancellation before January 15, 2027: Full refund, less 50% for administrative fees.
- Cancellation from January 16, 2027 onward: No refund.
It is also possible to transfer one’s registration to another person. This is free of charge and must be done no later than December 15, 2026.
General Guidelines for the Submission of Full Texts
Each article submitted for publication in the conference proceedings must follow the general template, which can be downloaded by clicking the button below.
Scientific Committee

Chair of the Scientific Committee:
Prof. Luc ONAMBELE
ESS-UCAC

Co-chair of the Scientific Committee:
Cristina Garcia VIVAR
Public University of Navarre (UPNA)

Head of the Scientific Committee Secretariat :
Dr Pulchérie ATEBA
GRESS
Deputy Head 1 of the Scientific Committee Secretariat:
Dr Clarisse MEÑYENE NDONGO
GRESS
Deputy Head 2 of the Scientific Committee Secretariat:
Normand Davy EBONDA
GRESS

Member of the Scientific Committee:
NAASSIF SENI
GRESS
Pr Eric BRETON
École des hautes études de santé publique de Rennes
Pr Francisco GUILLEN GRIMA
Université Publique de Navarre/ Public University of Navarre (UPNA)
Pr Françoise NGO SACK
Université de Douala
Pr Géraldo PISABARRO
Université Publique de Navarre/ Public University of Navarre (UPNA)
Pr Hortense GONSU
Université de Yaoundé I
Pr Ines AGUINAGA
Université Publique de Navarre/ Public University of Navarre (UPNA)
Pr Laeticia SAN MARTIN
Université Publique de Navarre/ Public University of Navarre (UPNA)
Pr Pierre ONGOLO ZOGO
Hôpital Central de Yaoundé (HCY)
Pr Serge ZEBAZE
Université de Yaoundé I
Pr Véronique PENLAP
Université de Yaoundé I
Pr Francisco GUILLEN GRIMA
Université Publique de Navarre/ Public University of Navarre (UPNA)
Dr Annie EPOTE
Centre Pasteur du Cameroun
M. FONYUY Bertrand KIAFON
QHU
Dr Rosine Virginie NGONO ELOUNDOU
Hôpital Général de Yaoundé (HGY)
Dr Paul TALLA
Hôpital Général de Yaoundé (HGY)
Dr Suzanne BELINGA
Centre Pasteur du Cameroun
Dr Thierry EBOGO
Institut de recherche Médicales et de Plantes Médicinales
Dr Wilfried TSANGA TOUNA
Centre Pasteur du Cameroun (CPC)
Dr ATENGUENA Etienne
Hôpital Général de Yaoundé (HGY)
Dr Gisèle NKE ATEBA
Hôpital Central de Yaoundé (HCY)
Dr Martin Gael OYONO
Institut de recherche Médicales et de Plantes Médicinales
