15/10/2026
Community Dialogue as a Tool for Peacebuilding in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West Regions
The crisis in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West Regions has continued to affect communities through insecurity, displacement, destruction of infrastructure, disruption of education and livelihoods, kidnapping, illegal checkpoints, loss of economic opportunities and weakened relationships among community members. In 2026, the humanitarian situation remains serious, with an estimated 1.2 million people in the two regions requiring humanitarian assistance, while more than 580,000 people have been displaced from the regions.
Against this background, community dialogue should be treated as a practical peacebuilding and recovery mechanism, rather than simply a meeting where people exchange views. Years of violence have weakened trust between communities, authorities, displaced persons, young people, traditional institutions and other stakeholders. Therefore, dialogue must create safe opportunities for affected populations to express grievances, listen to one another, rebuild relationships and jointly identify solutions.
Key Approach
1. Listen before attempting to solve
Facilitators should first conduct consultations with different groups separately, particularly women, youth, traditional leaders, religious leaders, farmers, displaced persons, returnees and other affected populations. This allows people to express sensitive concerns without fear or intimidation.
2. Bring communities together around common interests
Dialogue should move beyond political differences and focus on issues that affect everyone—security, food production, access to farms, education, health, roads, markets, water, youth unemployment and livelihoods. These shared concerns can provide entry points for cooperation.
3. Make the dialogue genuinely inclusive
Women and young people should not merely attend meetings; they should have meaningful roles in identifying problems, proposing solutions and implementing agreements. Previous peacebuilding initiatives in the North-West have demonstrated the value of community-based mediation networks and the participation of women and youth.
4. Address grievances without promoting blame
Facilitators should allow participants to explain what they have experienced while discouraging hate speech, accusations, threats and retaliation. The objective is to transform grievances into negotiable issues and practical commitments.
5. Link dialogue to development and livelihoods
Peace will be difficult to sustain if communities continue to face poverty and unemployment. Dialogue should therefore be connected to agricultural recovery, youth employment, women's economic empowerment, rehabilitation of community infrastructure and restoration of local markets. This is consistent with the Humanitarian-Development-Peace approach, which links protection and social cohesion with basic services and sustainable livelihoods.
6. Establish community peace structures
Each dialogue should result in concrete follow-up mechanisms such as a Community Peace and Development Committee, early-warning system, mediation team and community feedback mechanism. These structures can identify emerging tensions before they become violent.
7. Convert dialogue into action
Participants should agree on a small number of realistic commitments—for example, peaceful access to farms, protection of markets and schools, mechanisms for resolving local disputes, support for displaced/returning families and joint community development activities. The commitments should have responsible persons, timelines and regular review meetings.
Expected Result
The ultimate objective is to move communities from fear and mistrust → dialogue → trust → cooperation → joint development → sustainable peace.
The experience of reconstruction in the North-West and South-West also shows that recovery is not only about rebuilding roads, schools and other infrastructure; it requires rebuilding social relationships, confidence and opportunities for communities to work together.
In summary, community dialogue should become a continuous process—not a one-day event—through which affected communities are heard, grievances are addressed, trust is rebuilt, local disputes are mediated and communities jointly implement development activities that provide tangible peace dividends.
