Four-points resolution of the Southern Cameroons leadership retreat in Canada.

Between 29 October to 1 November 2021, Delegates representing more than 30 key Southern Cameroonian frontline and civil society organizations convened for the 2021 Southern Cameroons Leadership retreat in Toronto, Canada. The highly welcomed meetings was a byproduct of the stated aspirations of Southern Cameroonians during the 2020 conference

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations (CDN), the organiser of the leadership retreat is united states based international non-governmental organization (NGO) whose goal is to facilitate dialogue and seek a negotiated resolution and an end to the conflict in the Southern Cameroons.

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The following is the full statement as published by the organisers.

Leaders and stakeholders of the Southern Cameroons met for a High-Level Leadership Retreat held from October
twenty nine to November first, two thousand and twenty-one; Reiterating their firm determination to ensure that the aspirations of the people of the Southern Cameroons are realized, through dialogue and internationally mediated
negotiations that address the root causes, agreed as follows:

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1. Improve Dialogue and Collaboration within the Leadership of the Struggle: The leaders and stakeholders recognizing the strength in diversity and collective engagement, oneness, Agreed to:

• work together to build trust, respect, tolerance, and courtesy as we work towards consensus.
• commit to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Communications etiquette and the use of social media that would be elaborated.

2. Safeguarding education, access for humanitarian aid and human rights. Agreed to:

• promote the right of children to education, including through community schools.
• encourage parents to consider safety and security conditions in making educational choices for school children.
• support provision of access for humanitarian workers and assistance to all victims of the armed conflict and call on aid workers to abide by international humanitarian law, especially in armed conflicts.

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3. Guiding Principles for Negotiation

Agreed to:

• recognize the importance of collective engagement in matters of negotiations founded on trust.
• accept to explore and enhance avenues to build a team for internal and external negotiations.
• create space to build from their different strategies to engage in external negotiations as one entity, representing the people of the Southern Cameroons and their ultimate interest.

4. Framework for International Mediation:

The leaders and stakeholders discussed the ongoing Switzerland-led facilitation process and the lack of progress and commitment from the Government of Cameroon and agreed to:

• work together to ensure international mediations are credible.
• engage in an effort to improve the internationally mediated process facilitated by the Government of Switzerland, including adding like-minded partners.
• reconvene to reassess progress in alignment with the collective aspiration of the people of the Southern Cameroons.

While the leaders and stakeholders are working on the elaboration of the resolutions of the retreat, they collectively applauded the Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiations (CDN) for providing the space for these frank discussions and committed to work with the CDN to build synergy. They called on the CDN to facilitate another meeting within the shortest possible time to discuss more substantively on the relevant issues raised in this retreat.

Berinyuy Cajetan, Publisher

Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.