COMINSUD, Civil Peace Service, and Participants Immortalize Event.
More than 35 community representatives drawn from 10 villages across Mezam Division have gathered in Bamenda for a workshop aimed at strengthening grassroots peacebuilding efforts in communities affected by conflict in Cameroon’s North-West Region.
The training, organized by Community Initiative for Sustainable Development (COMINSUD), took place at the COMINSUD Peace Hall in Nchoubou, Bamenda, under the framework of the Civil Peace Service (CPS) program supported by Bread for the World.
Participants included members of village development associations, traditional councils, community focal points, and women and youth representatives delegated by their traditional rulers.
Speaking during the session, Fon Nsoh Michael, COMINSUD's Coordinator, said the initiative seeks to equip communities with practical tools to resolve local conflicts before they escalate. “We recognize that despite the wider conflict affecting the North-West Region, there are still many small and emerging conflicts within communities that must be addressed,” he explained. “If these conflicts are ignored, they increase harm and suffering, especially among vulnerable populations.”
According to the peace advocate, the workshop focuses on a bottom-up approach to peacebuilding, empowering communities to identify and resolve their own disputes through conflict mapping, conflict analysis, and collective action planning. “At the end of the training, participants will return to their communities with concrete action plans. We will accompany and follow up so that one year from now, we can tell a different story,” he added.
The coordinator of COMINSUD, an NGO with headquarters in Ntarinkon, Bamenda, said each participating community is expected to identify one major conflict affecting local development and use the skills acquired during the workshop to seek practical solutions. “We do not want communities to turn their backs on conflict,” he said, echoing the slogan of the Civil Peace Service program. “Communities must build alliances with different actors who can contribute to peace.”
The workshop also attracted media organizations, with nine media outlets, including online platforms and radio stations, invited to help amplify awareness on community peacebuilding efforts.
Representing the Civil Peace Service Program of Bread for the World, the National Coordinator, Ntui Oben Obi Agbor, described COMINSUD as a strategic partner in the North-West Region. “COMINSUD is unique in its approach because it works directly with community peacebuilders and focal points at the grassroots level,” he said. “The organization brings together elders, women, and young people, making its approach holistic and inclusive.”
He stressed that the CPS program encourages communities to confront conflicts rather than avoid them. “We do not shy away from conflict. We face conflict and seek solutions,” he stated. “Peacebuilding must also include justice because justice is an important part of sustainable peace.”
The National Coordinator explained that the Civil Peace Service program, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through Bread for the World, currently works with 16 partner organizations across Cameroon. He added that the program's major national advocacy projects include peace education among youths, identity advocacy, and women’s empowerment initiatives.
For many participants, the workshop offered practical knowledge that could help restore social cohesion in their communities.
To Ntse Nganya Mundatenu, a member of the Mankon Traditional Council, the training had deepened participants’ understanding of how conflicts emerge and how they can be managed. “We have learned methods of identifying the roots of conflict and understanding how these problems manifest themselves,” he said. “We are leaving this seminar with enhanced knowledge and action plans to help regain the peace we have lost in our communities.”
Similarly, Awanamug Frida Ndumi, Focal Point for COMINSUD in Santa, highlighted the impact of the Anglophone crisis on local communities, particularly among young people. “In Santa, we face serious issues like school dropouts, drug abuse, and land disputes,” she said. “This workshop has empowered me with the necessary skills and knowledge needed to start addressing some of these problems within my community.”
COMINSUD says it has been engaged in peacebuilding activities since 2014, but the emergence of the Anglophone crisis has reinforced the urgency of strengthening community-based approaches to conflict resolution and peace education across the region and beyond.
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