By Shing Timothy
Some women drawn from the six Divisions of the South West Region have been schooled on peacebuilding as women. This was a focus of a one-day restitution exercise of the National Women’s Peace Convention by the South West North Women Task Force, SNWOT, aimed at localizing national concerns raised during the Yaoundé peace convention. The exercise took place on Wednesday 15 December 2021 at the campus Panafrican Institute for Development Buea
The one day come together according to Esther Omam was an opportunity for women who were not opportuned to attend the peace convention in Yaoundé to abreast themselves of the lessons and resolutions. “The peace conference in Yaoundé was not enough because many women back at home were disappointed that they were not part of it so we had to localize it so the grassroot women. Women all over the world play a vital role in peace building especially in fragile context. Women should know that they are the backbone of peace building, they act as pacifiers and they need to act as the interface in order to de-escalate the violence in our society”.
On her part, Sarah Derval Ephosi Lifanda, the Regional Coordinator for SNWOT in the South West Region, the goal is to involve more women in peace building since it demands more people to build peace. “…we are taking it to the level where every woman will understand her role in peace building, which is very important because the peacebuilding process is not for a few, but for all. For us to be inclusive, everyone’s voice must be heard, every woman must be part of that puzzle, the peace puzzle. As women, we build peace, piece by piece, every woman is a piece of piece and when these pieces of peace get together, we will get overblown peace. Our goal is to make every woman a peace builder in her home, community and country as a whole”.
The participants were drawn from all professional fields in life like farmers, market women, business persons, community leaders, members of civil society organisations, leaders of women groups, who are expected to take the peace message back to their peers. These women will also have the task of restituting the peace message to their peers in their villages and any gathering they involve in.
