UN official on Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon : “Humanitarian aid is not the solution”

UN Resident Humanitarian coordinator launching  UN Common office in Buea

By Fanwi Patience Toge

The UN Resident Humanitarian coordinator in Cameroon, Alegra Del Pilar Biaocchi, has said humanitarian assistance given to victims of the Anglophone Crisis should not be mistaken as the solution to the crisis, which has left hundreds of people dead and hundreds of thousands of others internally displaced.

The UN official made the statement, last weekend, in Buea, capital of in the Southwest region of Cameroon while on a visit to coordinate some humanitarian activities and meet with partners ahead of the 2019 International Humanitarian Day, which is celebrated today August 19.  

This year’s International Humanitarian Day (WHD) is celebrated under the theme “Honoring Women Humanitarians”

It is a day to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian services and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world.

The UN Resident Humanitarian coordinator also used the visit to inaugurate the UN Common Office in Buea, and she addressed UN partners and participants at a humanitarian fair.

In Kumba,Madam Biaocchi  took stock of projects carried out by some of their partners. 

After visiting some internally displaced Persons (IDPS) in Kumba, one of the hardest-hit towns in the South West Region with regards to the ongoing Anglophone crisis, she told   reporters that, humanitarian assistance was not the solution to peace, adding that they had no ambition to be a solution. 

“We are here to act as a bandage, just like when you cut yourself you put a bandage on[ the affected area] , that is what humanitarian assistance is all about. 

The Humanitarian Coordinator emphasized that they were only out to assist those suffering and needy because of the ongoing Anglophone crisis, especially those still stranded in the bushes.

She noted that in spite of enormous humanitarian assistance offered already to the affected, much more has to be done to reach greater communities and people suffering as a result of this crisis.

 To achieve the humanitarian goals, the UN official said, there was need for adequate funds, but regretted that at the moment they did not have adequate funds to do so. 

She lamented that they were only at 20% funding and could not meet the increasing demands and needs of these IDPs displaced in the North West and South West Regions. She applauded the humanitarian work that has been ongoing in the North West and southwest in the past three years, but added that there was still need for more work to be done.

 “There is a lot of humanitarian work going on the ground. We have just been to a fair and have seen all the works our partners are trying to do; we talk about distribution shelters, non-food items, gender-based violence and protection.”

She added that the work they were trying to do was enormous but unfortunately the needs were even bigger than what they could do.

  Madam Biaocchi believed that, there are still a lot of people out there that have not been touched or reached through humanitarian assistance. She mentioned worries voiced out by  IDP’s she met  in Kumba as pertinent. 

She recalled that some said they were too afraid to come out of the bushes because their houses had been burnt down; others due to lack of money while others because they were not in possession of their national identity cards to enable them travel to other saver regions.

“These are the hardest to reach people and we cannot rest until all these people have been taken care of. So there is need for more capacity, more access but it definitely needs more resources,” she observed.

 The Buea humanitarian fair was part of activities marking  the this year’s International Humanitarian Day, which  Madam   Biaocchi said offered an  opportunity for UN partners to showcase their activities to the public.

Asked how peace could be achieved in the North West and South West Region the UN official quipped they are still looking for a way out. 

“On Behalf of the UN and in name of the UN Secretary-General we have always asked for a solution to this crisis, which has to go through dialogue obviously; we’ve also asked for inclusive dialogue, it also has to do with addressing the human rights abuses which we continue to hear today are rampant and until we start protecting civilians and changing our behaviors on the ground it will be very hard to change solutions because people are getting radicalized every day because of the violence on the ground.

“We have to push for dialogue; we have an initiative which we called a Swiss-led initiative going on and the UN has fully supported this initiative and is encouraging all the parties to be part of that” 

 She noted that the Swiss initiative was a great starting point but appears to be a long-term solution “since negotiations usually take a long time to be achieved”

Nationally, she acknowledged recent peace efforts by Prime Minister Chief Joseph Dion Ngute, the Women Task Force in the Northwest and Southwest, 

According to her, dialogue is not only about airing your position, but also about changing behaviors because “we need to see the impact of dialogue initiatives.

“In order to achieve this much-talked dialogue there is a need for peace. The people have to feel safe in order to come out of their hidings, so that they can dialogue without which dialogue will be impossible.

“We need to stop the violence first, and then work towards regaining the people’s trust. We need to build confidence and genuine willingness to rebuild this nation, especially the North West and South West region” she stated

In the NW/SW regions, for example, humanitarian workers are on the frontline of the humanitarian crisis facing enormous dangers and difficulties in providing assistance to those who need it most.

Even though the United Nations is present in the NW/SW since 2018, alongside some faith-based and civil society organizations to provide assistance to affected populations, many communities these organizations have reached out to remain uninformed or confused about the mandate of the United Nations and the work done by them.

This year’s WHD, according to a press statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will be the perfect opportunity for the humanitarian community to engage directly with affected communities in order to explain their work and listen to the people’s concerns and priorities.

The Cameroon government, as well as other non-state actors, has been called upon to ensure that these women together with other humanitarian aids are guaranteed the protection afforded to them under international law.

The WHD 2019 celebrations in the NW/SW will have two main objectives.  One will be to sensitize affected communities and the public of these two regions, on the mandate of the humanitarian community and the principles that guide their actions. Secondly, to honor humanitarian women in the NW/SW for their heroic efforts in providing assistance to affected communities.