MOHCAM Executive Director Adah Atoh Muyang has officially opened the North West Women Mediators' Summit, describing the gathering as "a moment of reflection, recognition and renewed commitment" for women peacebuilders across the region.
She says the summit seeks to celebrate resilience while strengthening collective efforts towards sustainable peace in the North West Region.
Addressing participants, Adah Atoh Muyang noted that nearly a decade of conflict in the North West and South West Regions has left profound social, economic and psychosocial scars on communities.
According to her, families have been displaced, livelihoods destroyed, schools disrupted and communities divided by fear and uncertainty.
The MOHCAM Executive Director highlighted the disproportionate impact of the crisis on women and girls.
Adah Atoh Muyang says despite years of conflict, women have remained at the forefront of peacebuilding efforts.
Quote: "Women are not only victims of conflict. Women are agents of change, leaders, mediators and community peacebuilders."
She said women have since mediated family disputes, organised community dialogues, supported internally displaced persons, advocated for justice and created spaces for healing and reconciliation.
According to Adah Atoh Muyang, women have continuously brought people together where conflict created division.
Quote: "Women have built bridges where division existed and restored hope where conflict threatened to take root."
While acknowledging international and national commitments on Women, Peace and Security, including UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and Cameroon’s National Action Plan, the MOHCAM Executive Director said implementation challenges remain.
She noted that women continue to be underrepresented in formal peace negotiations and decision-making spaces.
Adah Atoh Muyang challenged stakeholders to rethink the exclusion of women from key peace processes.
Quote: "Peace cannot be sustainable when women remain on the margins of decision-making. Peace cannot be inclusive if the voices of those most affected are absent from the conversation."
The Executive Director called for greater representation of women in leadership and mediation spaces.
Quote: "Women do not belong only in community support roles. Women belong at decision-making tables, mediation platforms, policy discussions and leadership spaces."
Adah Atoh Muyang outlined key priorities including:
Strengthening women's leadership and mediation capacities
Investing in grassroots women-led peace initiatives
Creating safe and inclusive spaces for women and girls
Supporting young women as emerging peace leaders
Promoting accountability for Women, Peace and Security commitments
The MOHCAM Executive Director paid tribute to women working quietly in villages, communities and organisations across the region.
Quote: "You are not simply participants in peacebuilding. You are architects of peace, voices of resilience and the foundation upon which sustainable communities are built."
As the summit gets underway, Adah Atoh Muyang urged participants to move from dialogue to action.
Quote: "Let us transform commitment into action, dialogue into impact and challenges into opportunities."
She called for a future where peace, justice, dignity and inclusion become realities for every family and community in Cameroon.
First Panel Discussion Opens at North West Women Mediators' Summit
The first high-level panel discussion of the North West Women Mediators' Summit is now underway under the theme:
"From Commitment to Action: Localizing UNSCR 1325 and the National Action Plan to Advance Women's Inclusion in Peace Processes."
The discussion focuses on translating global and national commitments on Women, Peace and Security into concrete actions that improve the participation of women in peacebuilding and decision-making processes across communities in the North West Region.
The panel comes against the backdrop of concerns raised by MOHCAM Executive Director, Adah Atoh Muyang, who noted earlier that despite existing frameworks, women remain underrepresented in formal peace negotiations and decision-making platforms, while many grassroots women-led organisations continue to operate with limited resources and institutional support.
Meet the Panelists
Dr Sakah Bernard (Swiss Peace) Bringing expertise in peacebuilding, conflict transformation and mediation, Dr Sakah is expected to provide insights on strengthening local peace mechanisms and linking community initiatives with broader peace frameworks.
Florence Munteh (North West Regional Women's Convention for Peace) A prominent advocate for women's participation in peace processes, she is expected to share experiences from grassroots peace initiatives and the role of women-led movements in conflict resolution.
Emmanuel Ajonga (Project Officer, UN Women) Representing one of the leading international agencies promoting the Women, Peace and Security agenda, he is expected to discuss progress, opportunities and challenges in implementing UNSCR 1325.
Moderated by Cynthia Wakuna
The session is being moderated by Cynthia Wakuna, Programme Director of MOHCAM, who is guiding discussions on how stakeholders can move beyond policy commitments towards practical and measurable actions that place women at the centre of peacebuilding efforts.
Key question before the panel
How can women move from the margins of peace processes to the centre of decision-making and mediation efforts in the North West Region?
Enter the discussions
Representing the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and the Family (MINPROFF), Gillian Tamambang outlined government efforts to implement the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the North West Region.
According to her, MINPROFF continues to organise awareness campaigns and workshops to help community stakeholders understand and implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 at the local level.
Key interventions highlighted include:
Community sensitisation on Women, Peace and Security
Capacity building for women in leadership and mediation
Psychosocial support for survivors of violence
Economic assistance to vulnerable women and girls
Gender mainstreaming in reconstruction programmes
Skills training through Women and Family Empowerment Centres
Speaking during the panel discussion, Dr Bernard Sakah of Swisspeace said the organisation has spent the last six years supporting women's participation in peace processes in the North West and South West Regions.
He highlighted support provided to the North West and South West Women's Task Force through:
• Capacity building
• Mentorship
• Technical support
• Resource mobilisation
• Development of mediation and dialogue tools
Dr Sakah stressed that community-based and informal mediation processes remain critical for sustainable peace.
Quote: "Informal mediation processes remain very important because they are community-driven and community-led."
Swisspeace says it has facilitated learning exchanges between Cameroonian women peacebuilders and women involved in peace processes in other conflict-affected countries.
Dr Bernard Sakah cited Colombia as one example where women mediators from Cameroon were able to draw lessons from decades of peacebuilding experience.
The aim, he said, is to strengthen local peace initiatives through international learning and solidarity.
Representing the National Women's Convention for Peace, Florence Munteh challenged the perception that peacebuilding is reserved for educated women or those holding influential positions.
She argued that grassroots women are already resolving conflicts daily within families and communities.
Quote: "Every woman is a peacebuilder. Even the woman in the most remote village is solving problems and creating peace within her community."
One of the strongest moments of the discussion came from Florence Munteh as she addressed the persistent exclusion of women from formal peace negotiations.
Quote: "Women are ready for peace negotiations. If we are not given a seat at the table, we will bring our own chairs and participate in the peace process."
Her remarks drew strong reactions from participants attending the summit.
Florence Munteh revealed that the National Women's Convention for Peace has mobilised women across Cameroon, bringing together more than 1,800 women since its launch.
The initiative now works with over 80 organisations across the country's ten regions, promoting women's participation in peacebuilding, dialogue and conflict resolution.
UN Women Project Officer Emmanuel Ajonga explained that the establishment of a UN Women presence in Bamenda reflects the organisation's commitment to supporting women affected by the crisis in the North West and South West Regions.
He stressed that UN Women's role is to support government efforts while promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.
UN Women says economic empowerment remains a key pillar of its Women, Peace and Security interventions.
According to Emmanuel Ajonga, the organisation is currently supporting women's cooperatives across 17 municipalities along the Ring Road corridor.
Quote: "When women are economically empowered, they are more likely to participate in decision-making processes."
Representing the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Norman Taku argued that women's participation in peacebuilding cannot be separated from the broader struggle against patriarchal systems that continue to exclude women from decision-making spaces.
He described the National Women's Convention for Peace as a platform designed to challenge exclusion and ensure women shape the policies that affect their lives and communities.
Quote: "Women are still being kept out of spaces where decisions are made. That is what we must change."
The discussion is converging on one central message:
Women are already leading peace efforts at community level. The challenge now is ensuring that their voices influence formal decision-making, policy development and peace negotiations.
Stay with Hilltopvoices for key interventions, quotes and recommendations emerging from the discussion.
#NWWomenMediatorsSummit2026 #HilltopVoices #WomenPeaceAndSecurity #UNSCR1325 #WomenMediators #Peacebuilding #Bamenda
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