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Women In the Heart of Peacebuilding, Mediation (2)




For the first time in its history, Cameroon has equipped itself with a national plan of action for the implementation of Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council on Women, Peace and Security, and Companion Resolutions, mainly 1820, 1888, 1989, 1960, 2106, 3122, 2248, 2278. The said plan of action aims at translating into facts the relevant provisions of these international legal instruments whose objectives are to improve the participation of women in the prevention and Resolution of conflicts and to take the necessary measures for the protection of women and girls before, during and after conflicts.


When it is time to tackle the conflict itself, women reveal themselves as active peace builders. They often work on their own or lead informal peace initiatives behind the scenes in order to try to restore the social fabric of their communities.

As mediators, in the broad sense of bridge-builders between parties, women identify early warning signs of deterioration, document human rights abuses, provide humanitarian services, facilitate political transitions, or formally mediate between sides. As women, they often bring to the table new and different issues that are relevant to their constituencies and may not have been discussed.


As women, they often bring to the table new and different issues that are relevant to their constituencies and may not have been discussed.

Women peacebuilders play a unique role by contributing to the articulation of a ‘people-centered – bottom-up’ perspective that is often missing in peacebuilding. Women peacebuilders play a unique role by contributing to the articulation of a ‘people-centered – bottom-up’ perspective that is often missing in peacebuilding.


In Cameroon, in efforts to prevent further divide between Anglophones and Francophones, women advance peace education in schools and empower wives of traditional leaders to promote sustainable preventive approaches within communities.

Is the woman a conflict resolution officer? Yes. In the Northern regions of Cameroon, she does so through mediation in agro-pastoral conflicts, between host communities and the displaced. The woman is always listening. She is a problem solver for couples. To play this role of mediator, she develops a quality: Patience. She also plays an important role with the returnees. When a conflict, women mediators and negotiators in Cameroon: have applied the following most often which has gone an extra mile to tone down violence in some crisis zones within the country.


They deal with Facts with as much empathy as possible, they Relate feelings without being judgmental. The other and oneself is aware of each other’s interests and positions, the values and goals of both parties are taken into consideration, and they finally seek to find out What they can actually ask in order to solve the problem and experience mutual growth.



The role of women peacemakers in other parts of Africa, has also spurred many women mediators and peace builders in Cameroon to take on paths towards enhancing reconciliation and mutual understanding within communities and warring parties. Moreover, it echoes the challenges of other women mediators in Africa, whether they are from Mali, Niger, or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Indeed, women are often neglected, yet are crucial actors in long and lasting reconstruction, and protectors of peace when the early warning signs of conflict emerge.

 

By Rose Obah

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