Cameroon has been the scene of complex violent conflicts for years. In the Anglophone North-West and South-West, separatists have been fighting for territorial independence since 2017, while armed attacks by the jihadist Boko Haram have been occurring repeatedly in the Far North since 2014. Meanwhile, violent attacks by Seleka and Balaka militias on the civilian population are on the rise in the east of the country.
Girls and women are particularly affected by the effects of the armed conflicts. Nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, they are involved in peace-building measures on a large scale. A shining example of this is the 1st National Women’s Convention for Peace in Cameroon, launched in 2021, which has succeeded in building bridges of dialogue between opposing camps and thus making an important contribution to conflict resolution in their home country.
What lessons can be learnt from the successful involvement of women in the peace processes in Cameroon? What conclusions can be drawn for other conflicts in the region and beyond? And what can German feminist foreign and development policy learn from initiatives like these?
These and other questions were at the core of the discussion to which Dr Karamba Diaby MP and Rebecca Schamber MP, in cooperation with the German Africa Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, cordially invited.
Programme
Welcome Remarks:
Dr Karamba Diaby MP, Member of the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Economic Cooperation and Development, Chairman of the PG West Africa
Rebecca Schamber MP, Member of the Committees on Economic Cooperation and Development, Defence as well as the Subcommittee on United Nations, International Organisation and Civilian Crisis Prevention
Dr Henrik Maihack, Head of Africa Department, Friedrich Ebert Foundation
Discussion:
Sally Mboumien, Esther Omam & Marthe Wandou, representatives of the
1st National Women’s Convention for Peace in Cameroon, winner of the German Africa Award 2023
Birgit Pickel, Head of the Africa Department at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
Moderation:
Sabine Odhiambo, Secretary General, German Africa Foundation
