Politique

Reducing Community Violence: UN, Partners Discuss The Way Forward

Par Kimeng Hilton
01 oct. 2023 16:16
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A four-day workshop organized by the International Organization for Migration, IOM, the Cameroonian government and the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee, NDDRC, ended in Yaounde on September 30, 2023.

“The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, DDR programme, which is almost five years old, was created to help bring back peace to the country. It is important to bring back durable peace to the country. All national Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration stakeholders need to master Community Violence Reduction tools, methods, stakes, etc to help reduce violence within the DDR system,” Fai Yengo Francis, the Chairman of the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee, NDDRC commented. He spoke in Yaounde on Friday, September 30, 2023 at the close of a four-day workshop on Community Violence Reduction, CVR.

The Role Of Communities
“Talking about Community Violence Reduction, we refer to communities where DDR centres are based and those to host ex-combatants when they finally leave DDR centres,” Fai Yengo clarified. The workshop was jointly organized by NDDRC, the International Organization for Migration, IOM, the Cameroon government and the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, UNDPO.

Plans To Contain The Incidence
“I came with many expectations, which were fulfilled through the presentations by different facilitators. We learnt a lot. It will help me to implement a Community Violence Reduction plan in our DDR centre. We will try to identify activities that can improve the lot of former combatants,” Kum Henry Echu, the Head of the Disarmament, Demobilization Reintegration Centre for North West Region pledged.

Varied Participation
Fai Yengo said the workshop on Community Violence Reduction was a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration process. It was attended representatives from the United Nations Department of Peace Operations in New York, USA, and those of various ministries and the heads of DDR centres in the country.

Insurgency In Far North
According to the organizers of the training, Cameroon has been affected by the terrorist group Boko Haram operating in the Far North Region for more than a decade. And more recently, by the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP. It is important to recall that the porosity of the borders with the high movement of people, goods and trade, once made this part of the country a very prosperous zone with all types of exchanges reaching their peak. But persisting economic stagnation, environmental pressures, and pre-existing inter-community tensions and violence have helped to strengthen narratives for violent extremist groups, contributing to some youth being vulnerable to being exploited and recruited into Boko Haram.

Unrest In Anglophone Regions
On the other hand, in the North West and South West Anglophone regions of the country, armed separatist groups have been fighting government forces in a vicious escalation of hostilities. Which started off as an uprising of teachers and lawyers in 2016, but quickly deteriorated to regular cases of crime and kidnappings with a regular use of Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs since late 2020.

Quest For Peace
During his inauguration on 6 November 2018, President Paul Biya made a peace offer to Boko Haram fighters in Cameroon’s Far North Region and to members of armed groups in the North West and South West Anglophone regions. In line with this offer, the Presidential Decree No. 2018/719 was signed, creating the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee, NDDRC in Cameroon on 30 November 2018. The NDDRC is tasked with the conceptual creation, coordination and implementation of a National DDR Programme.

UN Contributions
The UN, in cooperation with its international partners, seeks to support this endeavor through different capacity-building measures, and to contribute to national strategies for peace in Cameroon. Based on the official Government request of support that followed the Presidential Decree, the United Nations has been providing policy, capacity and - to a lesser extent - operational support in the development and execution of the National DDR Programme with specific provisions for each regional context.

Health Component
As a further entry point for the UN’s support to DDR in Cameroon, the UN has been implementing new approaches for Community Violence Reduction, CVR, through health services. This has been developed and is being implemented by a consortium of the UN DDR Section, International Organisation for Migration, IOM and the World Health Organisation, WHO. It is funded by PBF.

Community Engagement
Using local health services as a neutral entry point for community engagement, the initiative aims at reinforcing local accountability and social service provision by supporting local health authorities in facilitation techniques. For participative diagnostic and planning, for the joint launching of community action plans, CAPs that respond to some of the underlying causes of poor social cohesion and youth recruitment and exploitation. It also provides tangible dividends to the communities that host or may be hosting returning combatants.

IOM’S Model
This methodology is based on IOM’s Community-based Planning Manual, a step-by-step guide for making community engagements through a range of different facilitation exercises for participative diagnostics and planning. The result is a more targeted insertion of resources with local authorities by being able to respond to the needs outlined in community action plans. Since late 2021, IOM and WHO have adapted this approach for the specific Far North and Health sector entry point.

Long-term Approaches
Building on the success of the Peace Through Health CVR project, the UN is looking on how to further support the government of Cameroon in the development of long-term approaches for CVR within national DDR processes, under the coordination of the NDDRC. To support this effort, CVR workshops in Yaounde and Douala were proposed.