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Photo courtesy of UN Women\/Ryan Brown.<\/p>\n
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A small but growing grassroots peace movement is trying to bring an end to the four-year secessionist conflict in Cameroon\u2019s English-speaking regions\u2014an internationally neglected crisis that is becoming increasingly deadly and complex.<\/p>\n
Formal attempts to negotiate a settlement between the government and fighters demanding independence for \u201cAmbazonia\u201d have stalled<\/a>. Internationally led efforts are hamstrung by deep divisions within the separatist movement, and by the refusal of the government\u2014which argues that the conflict is an internal affair\u2014to engage with external mediators.<\/p>\n Spurred by the lack of progress in getting the warring parties around a conference table, a series of grassroots peace-building initiatives\u2014launched by private individuals, rights groups, and the Catholic Church\u2014have cautiously moved in to negotiate local peace deals in Cameroon\u2019s two anglophone regions.<\/p>\n But these interventions\u2014many led by women\u2014must tread carefully to avoid being labelled as either pro-government or supportive of the armed movements fighting for the independence of the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.<\/p>\n