Cameroon: Six Diplomatic Missions calls on Government and Separatist leaders to respect children’s right to education in the Northwest and Southwest Regions
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Canada, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States have recently called on warring parties involved in the ongoing armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon to respect and protect children’s rights to education.
This call is coming when the attack against schools in the region have recently witnessed an increase. For example, recently, the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA) reported that the Separatists fighters were responsible for burning the infrastructures of the Queen of the Rosary College Okoyong in Mamfe, the Southwest region of Cameroon.
Below is the full statement, published on the UK Twitter page on 14 February 2022
‘A Joint statement on the right to education by diplomatic representatives in Cameroon: Canada, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and the US.
Over 700,000 children have been affected by the forced closure of schools in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon. For many, this is the fifth consecutive year of limited or no access to school. These children have a human right to education, and their education will be vital in ensuring the continued vibrancy in the Anglophone communities in the NWSW.
We the undersigned urge all stakeholders to respect the UN Security Council Resolution 2601 on the Protection of Education in Armed Conflict and take bold steps to ensure that children can attend school in safety: to stop attacking schools, teachers and children; to publicly support the right to attend school; and to hold accountable those who work to deny access to places of learning.
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.
