Cameroon is still a far cry from peace

[fusion_builder_container admin_label=”Content” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”80px” padding_left=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ layout=”2_3″ spacing=”5%” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” undefined=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”40px” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=””]

From dw.com

Fighting has intensified one month after Cameroon’s government called a National Dialogue to try to end the bloody secessionist crisis in the Anglophone regions. Many separatist leaders have shunned the talks.

[/fusion_text][fusion_imageframe image_id=”2314|400″ max_width=”” style_type=”none” blur=”” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”zoomin” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”center” lightbox=”yes” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” lightbox_image_id=”” alt=”” link=”https://themeforest.net/item/avada-responsive-multipurpose-theme/2833226?ref=ThemeFusion” linktarget=”_blank” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://coalitionfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/46163322_303-400×225.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=””]

Anglophone fighters have clashed with government security forces almost daily in the past two years of the conflict in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, a mostly Francophone country.

A month after the government called a five-day National Dialogue to try to stop the violence, it appears the violence is intensifying rather than abating.

“Just this week, there were several accounts of attacks on government installations and police and soldiers being killed by ‘Ambazonia’ fighters,” reported DW journalist Eyong Blaise, referring to the Anglophone seccessionist forces named after their self-proclaimed independent state, Ambazonia.

Blaise also said, there were reports of Cameroonian soldiers burning homes and villages in the Northwest region.

“In terms of security, from both the side of the government forces and the Ambazonian fighters, nothing has changed since the dialogue ended,” Blaise said on the phone from Buea, the capital of the Southwest region.

Talks fails to deliver

The government of President Paul Biya invited more than 1,000 participants, including lawmakers, priests, teachers and civil society, to a National Dialogue held between September 30 and October 4.

Dozens of recommendations were adopted.

However, rebel leaders have criticized the resolutions as being decided without the presence of key stakeholders. Anglophone separatist leaders living outside of Cameroon refused to attend the talks amid fears they would be arrested on terrorism charges if they entered the country. They had called for such negotiations to be held in a foreign country with UN mediators.

“At the end of the day, [the National Dialogue] was more of a smokescreen gathering put together by members of the [CPDM] ruling party and it did not represent the aspirations of the people on the ground,” journalist and political analyst Fah Elvis Tayong told DW on the phone from Douala, Cameroon’s commercial capital.

Although the government has said it is working on implementing the resolutions to restore peace, nothing concrete has yet been announced.

Suffering population

“Before the dialogue, people on the ground — taxi drivers, shopkeepers and market women — thought it was going to be a platform where change was going to come. … But it hasn’t profited them so far,” DW journalist Blaise said.

The Anglophone population has been suffering the brunt of the conflict.

Around a third of the Anglophone population need urgent humanitarian assistance and a tenth (some 536,000 people) have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations, since the violence erupted in late 2017.

80% of schools are still shuttered as a result of a ban on education imposed by militia groups and an estimated 40% of health care centers in the Southwest region aren’t functioning.

[/fusion_text][fusion_imageframe image_id=”2315|400″ max_width=”” style_type=”none” blur=”” stylecolor=”” hover_type=”zoomin” bordersize=”” bordercolor=”” borderradius=”” align=”center” lightbox=”yes” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” lightbox_image_id=”” alt=”” link=”https://themeforest.net/item/avada-responsive-multipurpose-theme/2833226?ref=ThemeFusion” linktarget=”_blank” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]https://coalitionfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/44592549_401-400×225.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=””]

Desperate to leave

Cameroon has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of people asking for passports.

According to the Delegate General for National Security, Martin Mbarga Nguele, so many people are applying for the document that processing time has soared from one week to one to two months.

Foreign embassies in the country are also being overwhelmed by Anglophone Cameroonians requesting visas.

The ambassador of France to Cameroon, Christophe Guilhou, for example, recently told journalists that in the past five months, visa applications had soared from several hundred a month to several thousand.

One of the some 300 people waiting outside the German embassy in Yaounde this week, 41-year-old Damian Che says he wants to leave Cameroon because he doesn’t believe the separatist crisis will end soon.

Che’s wife and two daughters were killed in the conflict and his compound was burnt down by the military.

Read full article here

[/fusion_text][fusion_sharing tagline=”Share This Post!” tagline_color=”” backgroundcolor=”” title=”” link=”” description=”” icons_boxed=”” icons_boxed_radius=”” color_type=”” icon_colors=”” box_colors=”” tooltip_placement=”” pinterest_image=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ layout=”1_3″ spacing=”5%” center_content=”no” link=”” target=”_self” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”#faf9f8″ background_image=”” background_position=”left top” undefined=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” hover_type=”none” border_size=”0″ border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”7%” padding_right=”7%” padding_bottom=”7%” padding_left=”7%” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” last=”no”][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-blog-sidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_global id=”1589″]

Share:

Related Items

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer

Under the Strategic Engagement of Stakeholders towards Dialogue and Negotiations in the Armed Conflict in Cameroons, the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer will work closely with the program team and the Data Analyst to ensure timely completion and transmittal of project M&E data and deliverables. S/he will assist with the introduction of innovations including surveillance, M&E activities to the project activities; and in the development and dissemination of tools, materials, reports, papers, and intervention linked research. The M&E office will provide support in the implementation of M&E systems and procedures per project guidelines, which includes data collection, analysis, and reporting on key indicators (output, outcome, and impact) for the program. S/he will undertake activities to support reviews of programs and/or country M&E systems and strengthening actions.

Finance and Accounts Officer

Under the Strategic Engagement of Stakeholders towards Dialogue and Negotiations in the Armed Conflict in Cameroons, the Finance and Accounts Officer will work closely with the Director of Finance as the resource officer ensuring that budgeting, all financial transactions, reporting, fiduciary, and fiscal duties are carried out. The officer will monitor spend, enforce governance, create reports and statements, file taxes and support fund raising efforts.

Data Analyst

Under the Strategic Engagement of Stakeholders towards Dialogue and Negotiations in the Armed Conflict in Cameroons, the Data Analyst will work closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer to ensure the development of systems for data collection, data accuracy, and data analytics to monitor and report on progress of project outcomes. The Data Analyst will provide technical assistance on data quality, trends, and insights to our government customer and stakeholders.

Translate »