{"id":3731,"date":"2024-06-24T17:37:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T17:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/?p=3731"},"modified":"2024-06-27T12:44:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T12:44:20","slug":"we-need-to-be-alive-to-do-this-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/3731\/we-need-to-be-alive-to-do-this-work\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe Need to Be Alive to Do This Work\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Caryn Dasah is a youth leader and a social justice and peace activist in a country experiencing an armed conflict that receives little global attention: The Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violence erupted in two regions of Cameroon in 2017 after the francophone central government cracked down on a non-violent strike by teachers and lawyers who protested the decision to appoint francophone judges in the English-speaking south- and northwest regions and against the general marginalization of Anglophones. An armed separatist movement grew from this crackdown. Clashes between separatists and government security forces have led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, the majority of whom are women and children. With over 60% of Cameroon\u2019s population under 25, this conflict predominately affects youth, highlighting their important force in peacebuilding. Caryn Dasah is one of them. She has been working on peacebuilding and advocacy in rural communities of the anglophone regions for 13 years and has founded several projects and programs. She also serves as the general coordinator of the Cameroon Women’s Peace Movement (CAWOPEM), which comprises 200 women-led civil society organizations from all ten regions of Cameroon. In 2019, at the age of 27, she led a CAWOPEM delegation to a pre-consultation for the government-sponsored Grand National Dialogue peace talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was there a particular event that made you decide to become active?<\/strong>
I come from this region in chaos. Early in the conflict, the killings, kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, and forced disappearances were alarming. Then, in 2017, over 20 villages in Meme in the Southwest were burnt down. I volunteered with an organization to provide humanitarian relief. I could not be quiet in the face of all these injustices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did your family react to your activism?<\/strong>
They felt I was risking my life, which is true. When a video circulated by a certain \u201cCapo Daniel\u201d, who targeted me after the publication of a statement I co-authored calling for violence to cease, I was hunted and threatened. My only option was to run to safety until the situation calmed down. My activism also placed my family in danger, I had to send my younger brother to a school in a safer city because of the threats and attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What part of your work focuses specifically on youth?<\/strong>
We have created women- and youth-friendly spaces to incubate and build an inclusive, locally rooted, and owned peace that considers the specificities of the people and context. The HerPlace Project involves women as grassroots peacebuilders and strengthens their capacity. Through the Women\u2019s Alliance for Security \u201cShe Builds Peace\u201d program, we support organizations led by young women by providing opportunities for them to share their work with partners and potential donors. The annual Youth Champions for Peace project empowers young people and mobilizes them to educate youths on issues such as drug abuse, countering and preventing violent extremism, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are young people affected by the conflict?<\/strong>
Young people have been characterized as troublemakers, leading to suppression, threats and arrests. For young women, it is worse. They are used as sex slaves, raped, subjected to battery and left with unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The destruction and insecurity have led many to flee to safer areas. This has caused major displacement and increased poverty. Many are left to fend for themselves in the cruelest conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What role does the youth play in building peace in Cameroon?<\/strong>
They are on the frontline decrying injustices, are active on social media to keep the world updated on the situation in Cameroon and have been involved in advocacy initiatives and campaigns. But they face enormous challenges: threats to life because the warring parties see you as a threat; trolling and attacks; being silenced through arrests when calling out injustices; access to the hinterlands to provide services; and lack of or limited funds for youth-led organizations because they don\u2019t meet the often unrealistic expectations of donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are they taken seriously by the government and authorities?<\/strong>
Youth tokenism still exists despite all the work being done by young people. We are still not given enough recognition for our participation in crucial meetings and conversations. For example, we were represented in last year\u2019s pre-talks between the government and the separatists facilitated by Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What support do Cameroon\u2019s young peacebuilders need from the international community?<\/strong>
They need platforms to talk about the ongoing conflict and to showcase their work, as well as mentorship and learning opportunities, including exchange programs. They need grants and recognition. Because their work exposes them to violence, they need psychological support. They also need safety and protection. We need to be alive to be able to continue this work and in moments of threats and attacks most of us are left to ourselves. Donors and partners can promote organizations that provide support to peacebuilders at risk.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caryn Dasah is a youth leader and a social justice and peace activist in a country experiencing an armed conflict that receives little global attention: The Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. Violence erupted in two regions of Cameroon in 2017 after the francophone central government cracked down on a non-violent strike by teachers and lawyers who … \u201cWe Need to Be Alive to Do This Work\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"issue":[281],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00e0 propos","author_link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/author\/apropos\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/pwag185WB-600x332.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Reports<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 24, 2024","modified":"Updated on June 27, 2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 24, 2024 5:37 pm","modified":"Updated on June 27, 2024 12:44 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3731"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4190,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3731\/revisions\/4190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3731"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=3731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}