The Minister for the Advancement of Women and the Family of Cameroon has just invited national and international actors to the Official Presentation Ceremony of the NAP for the implementation of UNSC Resolutions 1325 and Related Resolutions on “Women, Peace and Security, which will be organised on 16 November 2017, in partnership with UN Women. This is the successful outcome of a process led by the Cameroon Chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF Cameroon).
Reflection on the issue began in Cameroon in 2012, during a training workshop on women’s contribution to peace-building in a country in latent conflict organised in Douala from 29 to 30 March. Civil society then resolved to investigate the status of Resolution 1325 in Cameroon and to initiate advocacy for the development and implementation of a National Action Plan.
Established on 31 January 2014, WILPF Cameroon has made UNSCR 1325 its hobbyhorse, giving itself the mission to advocate so that a National Action Plan can be set up to follow the Women, Peace and Security Agenda according to the recommendations of the said Resolution.
WILPF Cameroon’s first actions in this direction were the training of its members and other CSO leaders to ensure more effective outreach and advocacy. The first high-level discussion in Cameroon on the subject took place from 9 to 10 October 2014, during the regional workshop on women’s participation in conflict prevention and crisis management, organised in partnership with the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and the Family (MINPROFF) and UN Women. The aim was to mobilise all actors around the process of developing a National Action Plan for Resolution 1325 and to advocate for its adoption by the Cameroonian government. This workshop was followed by a Retreat organised by UN Women in partnership with WILPF Cameroon to consolidate the gains, in which Servitas Cameroon, MINPROFF, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD), the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), and UNHCR took part.
In October 2014, WILPF Cameroon’s participation in the 14th anniversary of Resolution 1325 in New York, including a Panel on Boko Haram, provided an opportunity to demonstrate the urgency of this resolution for Cameroon. During this same period, WILPF Cameroon conducted a survey on the knowledge and implementation of Resolution 1325 in EAST Cameroon, followed by the setting up of a Media/CSO consultation framework for the effective implementation of Resolution 1325 in Cameroon.
The chronogram of activities to achieve the NAP was developed at the end of the WILPF Africa regional workshop on women’s participation in conflict prevention and management. The workshop was organised in Yaoundé, from 27 to 28 November 2015, by WILPF Cameroon with the support of Folke Bernadotte Akademy through WILPF Sweden and under the patronage of MINPROFF.
The official launch of the process in Cameroon took place on 15 November 2016. Sectoral ministries, international organisations, embassies and civil society organisations took part. Beforehand, and in order to better orientate the NAP’s axes, a basic study on the evaluation of the level of knowledge of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and on the impact of armed conflicts on women and girls in Cameroon was entrusted to WILPF Cameroon and the restitution took place on 09 February 2017. The study was placed under the general coordination of MINPROFF and the technical supervision of UN Women with the financial support of UNOCA and the Swedish Foundation Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA).
Three workshops for the consolidation and validation of the NAP of the UNSC Resolution 1325 and its related resolutions were held: Ebolowa (from 27 to 29 December 2016), Mbalmayo (from 25 to 27 February 2017, and from 12 to 13 May 2017).
The official presentation of the NAP opens a new phase in Cameroon, that of implementation. Following the recommendations of the baseline study carried out by WILPF Cameroon, and the logical framework of the NAP, many activities are planned and their implementation will contribute to a better consideration of women in peace processes in Cameroon.