Walter Wilson Nana
Buea, Cameroon
Some 50 women from Idabato, Kombo Itindi and the Bamusso Council areas that make up part of Bakassi Peninsular in Ndian Division, Southwest Region have been given lessons on how to manage peace, conflicts and know their rights.
Inspired by the civil society organisation, Reach Out Cameroon and the US based Democracy and Human Rights Fund, the women were told on how to lift the barriers of ignorance, promote their role in conflict prevention and peace building through awareness and empowerment by employing the traditional communication systems on the ground.
A Participant makes a point on the types of violence faced by women in the Bakassi area
The facilitators invited the women to create a supportive environment through Information, Education and Communication Sessions, IEC in their respective communities, pursue a Communication Advocacy through a public hearing mechanism, over their differences and unite for a common goal.
Reach Out Cameroon Executive Director, Esther Njomo Omam noted that the connection between women rights, gender equality, socio-economic development and peace is increasingly apparent with the intention to sustain a culture of peace.
She prescribed peaceful co-existence between Cameroonians and Nigerians living in the Bakassi Peninsular, while encouraging the empowerment of female leaders in decision making within the area. “Women, their children and family members must live in a favourable and happy environment,” Omam noted.
The Mayor of Idabato, one of the three Subdivisions that the women were drawn from, Oliver Ntimi Akan said there are ten women and youths who are councillors in his council, giving the 30 percent ratio as required by the law. He will add that despite their own challenges, they are forging ahead with the development and empowerment of the youths and women, especially in the areas of education of the child, farming, capacity building of the youths and the schooling of women on their rights and leadership skills.
At the close of the workshop, a peace anthem was composed by the women of Bakassi while the women from the three councils present; Kombo Itindi, Idabato and Bamusso each formed a Bakassi Women for Peace Task Force.
In the outbreak of the 2006 armed conflict in the Bakassi Peninsular, hordes of women have suffered from psychological, physical and sexual violence. Women could no longer have access to their farms and markets as their daily activities were shattered by the conflict, hence there is need to redress the situation. Reach Out Cameroon, working for the plight of women, during her consultations with the councils in the Bakassi area expressed her readiness to contribute to the restoration of the dignity of women in that part of Cameroon. The project was christened Women Working for Women’s Rights and Building a Culture of Sustainable Peace.
