At regional symposium: LOYOC, partners engage youth, stakeholders in dialogue on peacebuilding initiatives.

The symposium sought to create structured platforms for dialogue among youth, policymakers, and peacebuilding stakeholders. 

Prominent figures in youth advocacy and peacebuilding, youth leaders from the 13 Divisions of North West and South West Regions, government officials, civil society representatives, and traditional and religious authorities attended the symposium. 

The Vice Chancellor of Biaka University Institute, Dr Francisca Hongla Biaka, among other key figures attended the symposium.

The Divisional Officer, DO, of Buea, Dr Abba Abdouraman, opened the symposium, reminding participants that “everything about peace starts in the head”. 

The Canadian High Commissioner to Cameroon, Mrs. Marie-Claude Harvey, gave an opening reflection on peace building while the Executive Director of Dallaire Institute on Children, Peace and Security, Dr Shelly Whiteman, delivered a keynote address via videoconference. 

Enter minister’s representative 

The South West Regional Delegate of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Isaac Ekombe Mbua, represented Minister Mounouna Foutsou at the symposium.

He hailed the timeliness of the symposium, especially as it holds at a time the nation awaits the proclamation of the October 12 presidential election results.

“I want to appreciate Local youth Corner for this wonderful initiative. It is very timely and we want to say that we will continue preach peace because this is a virtue that we can never undermine,” he stated. 

Ekombe Mbua said peacebuilding is a journey without any destination, which has to continue for the next generations to come. 

Platform for youth share peacebuilding experiences

The Executive Director of Local Youth Corner, Achaleke Christian Leke, told reporters that the symposium is a continuation of a process that started in 2019, during which it was realised that “young Cameroonians were making tremendous efforts to build peace” which were “not known, supported and respected”.

“The goal of this symposium was to bring young people from the 13 Divisions of the two regions, give them a platform to share what they have been doing, give them an opportunity to learn from among themselves, and to connect with the generation in front of them,” Achaleke stated.

He was upbeat that with the experiences shared at the symposium, young people from the North West and South West Regions would no longer be seen “as troublemakers or victims, but true embodiment of building a peaceful and prosperous nation”.

Achaleke said the symposium is also an opportunity to give young people a platform to be champions of “rewiring thought patterns, staying positive and building the most that they can for the nation”.

“That is the key message for this process,” he stated, while re-echoing the wish to see youth work in collaboration with top institutions in the country and beyond.

Achaleke said LOYOC is leveraging on partnerships to follow-up participants and ensure issues discussed are well implemented.  

“That is why we had to get into partnership with Biaka University Institute, which is a hub for education; local organisations, MINJEC, as well as regional councils, because these are institutions that are implementing,” he explained. 

He said LOYOC also aligns its efforts with national processes such as the National Action Plan on Youth Peace and Security, whose implementation plan, he added, also dominated discussions at the gathering. 

Achaleke also pointed that youth-led process is also engaged for members of the same generations to speak to themselves, connect and look at how they can do things together. 

“The icing on the cake is the fact that we will be reminding these young people for these three days the importance of partnership, and how they can get stakeholders to work with them. The idea is to educate them to focus on evidence-based processes, while avoiding talks with nothing to show for,” LOYOC boss noted, adding that: “That is the mindset that we are trying to bring through this process to ensure sustainability”. 

Zoom on objectives, expected outcome

The symposium, organisers said, seeks to facilitate engagement between youth-led organisations and key stakeholders, explore the gendered experiences of youth in conflict and their contributions to peace, present findings from a regional mapping of youth-led initiatives, strengthen collaboration among youth movements and civil society organisations and generate actionable recommendations to influence peacebuilding strategies.

LOYOC and partners expect to, through the symposium, among other things, enhanced recognition of youth contributions to peace, strengthen collaboration between youth actors and institutions, disseminate a mapping report on youth-led good practices, co-developed youth peacebuilding charter with actionable recommendations as well as strengthen youth leadership and agency in peacebuilding processes.

Aside series of panel discussions on peacebuilding, the symposium also featured an agricultural exhibition.

Focus was to showcase the outcomes of young former combatants participating in the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration, DDR programme, highlight agriculture as a pathway for sustainable reintegration and provide a platform for networking and financial literacy.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3602 of Wednesday October 22, 2025