Yaounde – On April 22, 2024, the Governments of Cameroon and Colombia maintain even closer relations in the field of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), based on the sharing of experiences and capacity building. The two countries officially launched on April 19 in Yaoundé, the South-South Cooperation Program for peacebuilding: from Colombia to the world, to share good practices and lessons learned by Colombia in the peacebuilding process. It was during an official ceremony chaired by the Secretary General of the Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) Mr. Chinmoun Oumarou, in the presence of many actors of peacebuilding in Cameroon including the National Coordinator of the National Committee of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (CNDDR) Mr. Francis Faï Yengo. A strong high-level delegation from Colombia, led by the General Director of the Presidential Agency for International Cooperation (APC) of Colombia Ms. Eleonora Betancur Gonzalez, was also present at the ceremony.

The Cooperation Program thus launched aims to “Improve the peacebuilding process by implementing a program capitalizing on lessons learned from the Colombian case”. To do this, it will be carried out in three phases: design of program of cooperation for the peacebuilding in Africa; sharing good practices and community experiences from the cooperation program for the peacebuilding in Africa; the implementation of action plans in each country and the provision of technical assistance within the framework of the cooperation program for the peacebuilding in Africa.

Returning to the context which led to this partnership, Mr. Chinmoun Oumarou recalled that “It is in 2021 that the Government [of Cameroon] is committed to strengthening cooperation and the strategic partnership between the National Committee of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (CNDDR) and the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) of Colombia, in order to learn and benefit from Colombia's good practices in the area of conflict resolution and peacebuilding”.

In the same vein, Ms. Aïssata De, Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Cameroon recalled that it was during the visit of 2021 in Colombia in which the National Coordinator of the NDDRC Mr. Francis Faï Yengo and the IOM Chief of Mission Mr. Abdel Rahmane Diop took part, that the “decision to launch a South-South Cooperation Program to “export” peace achieved in Colombia” was made. The NDDRC Coordinator Mr. Francis Faï Yengo, bases this initiative on the hope of achieving “a general peace, the development of the countries concerned and the well-being of the populations”.

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For more information, please contact:

• Elodie Ndeme Bodolo, IOM Cameroon, Tel: 691638957, Email: endeme@iom.int
• Christiana Namondo Monoke, Ministry of External Relations, Tel: 677682381