Members of Parlaiment have been drilled on the universal values of peace in a seminar organised by the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP).
Cameroon’s most prized asset is peace. Unfortunately, the country like in other parts of the world has seen this value threatened by several upheavals. With the current crisis in the Anglophone regions, the much cherished peace preached by all and sundry has been shaken. It is in the bid to create awareness in parliamentarians to be ambassadors of peace where ever they find themselves, that IAPP organised the capacity-building seminar on April 6, 2021. According to the president of the association Hon. Emabot Brigitte, “people think that peace is collective. It is primarily individual before being national and international. One of the objectives of the seminar is to show parliamentarians that everyone must make an effort to make people understand that peace is priceless.”
The association that was launched in Seoul, South Korea in 2016 in the presence of some 450 parliamentarians aims at proposing solutions to peace. As the people’s representatives, MPs thus have the duty to synergise efforts in the struggle to restore peace in a world plagued by diverse calamities. The association, which is in its baby steps in Cameroon, has not carried out any concrete action on the field. Their goal is firstly to improve the understanding of MPs in the domain so that, they may collaborate to promote peace. To Hon. Emabot Brigitte, her wish is to see Cameroon regain its peace that will radiate to all sectors of national life.
Hon. Njume Kingsley, secretary of the IAPP for his part stressed the need for all to be ambassadors of peace. “This means that as the people’s representatives, we must be able to examine every law that comes to parliament, see that it promotes human dignity because once there is justice and seeing the value of others, then you are promoting peace. We have to learn to be peacemakers in our various communities and see that in National Assembly there is no difference between political parties. We should be able to all talk for the interest of Cameroonians.” The organisers of the seminar have expressed the hope of seeing their peers carry the peace talk to their constituencies while waiting for more concrete action at the level of parliament.
The missions of IAPP include the promotion of dialogue and cooperation, interfaith peace building, conflict prevention, education and development, strong marriage and family and leadership and good governance.
Claudette CHIN
