Inspirational messages usher in 1st National Women’s Convention for Peace in Cameroon
The convention is an initiative by Cameroonian women to send a strong collective message that the women of Cameroon are longing for peace.
IAWRT Cameroon members are among the women joining the peace convention.
“Since one can only give what he or she has, let me settle whatever conflict there is within Me or with another person, so that the Peace I give to others will be Genuine,” said Tchonko Becky Bissong, CRTV Journalist and IAWRT Cameroon Chapter head, a post that is part of the social media campaign of the convention.
The peace convention is a gathering of Cameroonian women to speak with one voice about restoring peace to Cameroon. The convention is not organized by the government nor is it related to any political party.
More than one thousand women from all corners and groups of society are expected to join to unite their voices: women peace activists, displaced women and girls, victims of war-related violence, female traditional and religious leaders, female soldiers, women entrepreneurs, domestic workers, women from civil society and political parties and many more.
“We are here and we are ready to dialogue.”
This is the message of women taking part in the unforgettable and incomparable three-day peace convention at the end of July 2021.
The convention is slated from July 29-31 at the Palais des Congrès in Yaounde. The town is considered the most centrally located in all of Cameroon, making travel from all 10 regions easier than from any other town.
“Let us no longer accept that they speak for us – Let us speak for ourselves.”
The information on the convention says that women are paying a disproportionately heavy price in armed conflicts every day.
“But we have also shown that we can face these difficult challenges with a strong determination, loud voices and firm actions. Women are the glue of society – we have come with an unwavering commitment to bring peace to the country we love and to make it a better place for ourselves and our children.”
The gathering will build an alliance “that is stronger, louder, and more numerous than those who profit from war.”
“Nothing will silence us or slow us down – not the difficult memories, the painful testimonies, or the ignorance of those who treat women without respect.”
A platform of 38 Cameroonian women’s organisations is part of the planning committee of the peace convention.
“War does not determine who is right – only who’s left.”
The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation is the convention secretary. FES is a German political foundation that bases its work on freedom, equality, social justice, and solidarity. They have been working in Cameroon since 1986.
