1.0. Introduction

Women generally play diverse roles in war and armed conflict and are disproportionately affected by conflict compared to men (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 2005)1. Armed conflicts amplify the existing inequalities that women and girls face due to the socially constructed position that makes them more vulnerable and susceptible to violence including sexual and gender-based violence (United Nations, 2003; Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). Women are also active agents of peace and change and have often contributed to conflict prevention and resolution (Rehn & Sirleaf, 2002). However, these contributions remain unrecognized in the peace and security arenas. To achieve sustainable solutions to conflicts, it is essential for those who are affected the most by it to be fully and meaningfully visible in peace forums and agendas (Snyder, 2017; Reardon, 1993).

1.1. Research Aim and Questions

Decades after gaining independence from Britain and France, the issue of identity, linguistics, and post-independent state nation-building has been a sensitive one in Cameroon (Agwanda et al., 2019). This has led to a series of protests from the disgruntled anglophone society in Cameroon which later aggravated into an armed conflict. Women and children are constantly exposed to violence and insecurities as they bear the brunt of the crisis in a highly patriarchal society. According to the Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and State-building (2020)2, the deteriorating anglophone crisis has resulted in a growing increase in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) as part of the increase in violence. While there have been numerous reports and literature on women and children as the victims of the armed conflict, there has been less focus and recognition on women’s agency, resilience, and their role as key actors who negotiate for peace and social justice. This research aims to explore the activism of women within the framework of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that fight to eradicate GBV and push for a peace and security agenda in the Southern Cameroon armed conflict. Guided by the research questions below, this research is a case study research that focuses on the role of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)- Cameroon and Southern Cameroon European Women (SCEW) as anti-violence, peace, and social justice organisations:

1. How has the Cameroon armed conflict impacted the lives of women and how has SCEW and WILPF-Cameroon engaged in the fight against GBV in this context? 2. What role does SCEW and WILPF -Cameroon play in promoting Feminist Peace?

i. What are some of the strategies employed by these organisations in promoting disarmament, dialogue, and sustainable peace? For example, Collaboration or collective efforts of women actors at all levels (community, regional, national, and international), bottom-up approach. ii. Are these strategies sustainable?
1.2. Background of the Area of Study

1.2.1. Anglophone Cameroon (Southern Cameroon) armed Conflict

Cameroon is in central Africa with a population of about a 25.8million according to the world Bank population indicator (2019). The country is very diverse with about 250 ethnic groups of different ethnic languages but with French and English as the two main official languages. Religiously, the country is mostly made of Christians, Muslims, and native believers (The committee against Torture, 2004). The country is made up of 10 regions with two of the regions (Northwest and Southwest) constituting the anglophone region and 20% of the Cameroon population while 80% is made of the francophone majority (Ashu, 2020, p, 14836; International Crisis Group3, 2017). The country is currently suffering from a series of instabilities such as attacks from Boko Haram4 terrorist groups in the Far North Region which has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, and more intensely the war in the northwest and southwest regions of the country, also known as the anglophone crisis (CSPPS, 2020). Statistics show the conflict has resulted in the loss of about 4000 lives and has displaced approximately half a million people both internally and to neighbouring countries like Nigeria, while 855000 children have been forced out of school due to insecurity (CSPPS, 2020; Human Rights Watch, 2020). The Cameroon military and the separatist fighters continue to kill, rape, and burndown private and government properties. Thousands of civilians have been arrested, torture, and thrown in prison and others killed as the violence continues (Mbondgulo-Wondieh, 2020).
The anglophone crisis began in 1961 when British (Southern) Cameroon gained independence from its colonial powers (Konings & Nyamnjoh, 1997, p. 207; 2003) and intensified in October 2016 when anglophone lawyers and teachers organised peaceful protests against the underrepresentation marginalisation, and systemic assimilation of the common law system and Anglo-Saxon system of education in anglophone Cameroon by French Cameroon (Ashu, 2020). Protesters were violated, tortured, shot at and some were arrested and put in jail. This repressive action by the government made a bad situation worse as the people of Anglophone decided to create a defence force called the Ambazonia Defence Force commonly called the ‘Amber boys’ as a mechanism to protect their people from the brutal regime as protesters were labelled as criminals, terrorists, and a people who are out to destabilise the peace and unity of the nation (Konings & Nyamnjoh, 2019; ICG, 2017). The anglophones through trade unions, CSOs presented a list of demands from the government including returning to two State Federation as that was the original agreement or condition for the unification of French and British (Southern) Cameroon in 1961.