ARMED CONFLICT AND THE WELFARE OF INTENALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on the impact of the armed conflict on the welfare of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Buea Municipality, specifically examining the role of CEFORA. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of the armed conflict on IDPs and analyze the strategies implemented by CEFORA to support them. A mixed-methods approach was employed, utilizing quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews as the primary research methods.

The study found both statistically significant and non-significant associations regarding the impact of CEFORA on the welfare of IDPs. The statistically significant findings indicate the positive influence of CEFORA interventions in improving the well-being of IDPs, while the non-significant findings highlight areas where further improvement is needed. These findings underscore the complexity of addressing the needs of displaced populations and emphasize the significance of comprehensive support systems and suitable living conditions.

Challenges identified in the study include insecurities in Southern Cameroon and inadequate accommodations for IDPs. To address these challenges, the study recommends strengthening security measures and prioritizing the provision of safe and suitable living environments for IDPs. It also suggests enhancing comprehensive support systems by further developing strategies such as providing food items and grants, establishing effective communication channels, and offering training programs and vocational skills development.

Additionally, increasing funding and resources is crucial to effectively implement support programs, despite the non-significant findings related to the provision of funds. The study highlights the importance of fostering collaboration and coordination with government agencies, international organizations, and local communities to create a comprehensive and coordinated response to the welfare of IDPs.

The research contributes to the understanding of the impact of armed conflict on the welfare of IDPs and provides valuable recommendations for CEFORA and other organizations operating in similar contexts. Further research is recommended to explore factors influencing the construction of communication channels and to deepen the understanding of the challenges faced by IDPs and the potential strategies to address them.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The increasing and alarming number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has made this issue a matter of international concern so that their situation, assistance and protection is not only a humanitarian imperative, but a question of regional and international security and sustainable development (Cohen, 2013).

According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) 38 million were affected by conflict-induced internal displacement by the end of 2014. This means a 15 per cent increase in comparison to 2013, including 11 million newly displaced persons during the year. In other words approximately 30,000 people being forced to migrate a day (Churruca, 2016).

The fact that in 2014 90% of the 60 countries monitored by the IDMC had people living in protracted displacement for over 10 years gives an indication of the difficulties in finding sustainable solutions to displacement (Collinson et al, 2011). Despite the prominence of internally displaced persons in international political discourse and the recognition of their existence in almost all transition or post conflict situations, IDPs are largely marginalized in peace building processes. It is not only that the plight of IDPs is being considered mainly as a humanitarian problem.

The critique to the containment policies of forced migration and the misuse of humanitarian and development aid for international security purposes have relegated the real protection problem of IDPs to the background. In spite of that, the achievement of a sustainable peace and the end of internal displacement are interlinked.

In this sense, supporting durable solutions to internal displacement cannot only address the root causes of conflicts but help preventing further displacement (Mooney, 2005).
Although IDPs should be an integral part of peace building processes it is clearly not the case. Recognizing the intrinsic difficulties of finding durable solutions to IDPs our argument is that the failure to solve the plight of internally displaced people also lies in the conceptual approach that is being used to address this issue. We claim that there is a need to adopt a human security approach to address the problem of finding durable solutions to IDPs.

Indeed human security should be the first priority of peace building in the period immediately following a conflict. Human security, understood not only as an objective but as a policy framework, offers a perspective from which to address the plight on internally displaced people (Kälin, 2010). It is a rights-based approach which should be ensured through protection and empowerment strategies. If human security becomes the main priority of peace building the people in general not only IDPs would be the focus. Ultimately peace building is about “building human security”.

The face of humanitarian aid today is complex, with hundreds if not thousands of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other organizations from many countries providing a variety of aid and development efforts. It has been observed that, both armed conflict and natural disasters affect an ever increasing number of people. Between 1980 and 2004, an estimated two million people were killed and five billion affected by approximately 7,000 natural disasters with staggering economic and social costs (Doyle and Sambanis, 2000).

Around the clock, media outlets provide to the general public extensive coverage of many of these natural disasters and conflicts, and internet and social media provide easy communication, organization and fundraising. Such coverage has led to a groundswell of efforts towards aid provision and will likely continue to greatly impact the delivery of aid far into the future, especially by CEFORA.

In recent years humanitarian assistance provided in situations of war and disaster by donor governments, international organizations like the United Nations (UN), and, particularly, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in situations of war and disaster has saved hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of lives. The provision of food and medical supplies to refugees, displaced persons, and those near the battlefields in Somalia, Rwanda, Zaire, Mozambique, Angola, Liberia, Sudan, and elsewhere constitutes one of the most heroic and life-preserving activities of our time.

Major NGOs like CEFORA, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and many less well known organizations have been on the front lines relieving desperate human suffering in Africa (Smit Avion, 2012). While the international community increasingly recognizes and appreciates the value of these efforts, some analysts have begun to assert that humanitarian assistance on occasion exacerbates conflict rather than contributing to peace. No one questions that the value of this assistance far out-weighs its occasional negative consequences, but members of the assistance community find it necessary nevertheless to address the issues these analysts have raised. They want to assess the extent of the damage and consider how to eliminate or minimize these negative consequences.

1.2 Statement of the Problem
The objectives of arm conflict and the welfare if internally displace person are to serve lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity during and in the aftermath of man-made crises and natural disasters, as well as to prevent and strengthen preparedness for the occurrence of such situations (Long, 2009).
Based on the Anglophone crises in the north and south west region, so many people have run away from their various homes. The massive destructions of home by the civilian has been a spontaneous massive displacement amongst our brothers to other neighboring villages, town and even countries.

The welfare of humanitarian action should be guided by the humanitarian principles of humanity, meaning the centrality of saving human lives and alleviating suffering wherever it is found; impartiality, meaning the implementation of actions solely on the basis of need, without discrimination between or within affected populations; neutrality, meaning that humanitarian action must not favour any side in an armed conflict or other dispute where such action is carried out; and independence, meaning the autonomy of humanitarian objectives from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented (Ferris, 2011).
Welfare of humanitarian action includes the protection of civilians and those no longer taking part in hostilities, and the provision of food, water and sanitation, shelter, health services and other items of assistance, undertaken for the benefit of affected people and to facilitate the return to normal lives and livelihoods.

A growing number of countries have developed national disaster management capacities and regional bodies are becoming increasingly important players. This is often coupled with a more assertive role vis-à-vis international actors. On the other hand, international humanitarian action is insufficiently coherent and predicable: there are huge discrepancies in terms of what is provided between contexts, and a plethora of mechanisms and initiatives that often work at cross-purpose (Paris and Sisk, 2009).

CEFORA has been operating in Cameroon from 2009 before the outbreak of the crisis in the NW and SW regions of Cameroon, with the main office found in Buea South West Region of Cameroon, however, the humanitarian assistance has been questioned by many inhabitants of the South West Region of Cameroon including the researcher on many aspects; some internally displaced persons in South West Region do not know about the existence of CEFORA from preliminary findings, some internally displaced persons have received gifts from these bodies but do not value them because they do not constitute major necessities to them, some internally displace person do not receive humanitarian assistance from CEFORA whose humanitarian situations are worst off but CEFORA give assistance to internally displaced groups alongside other bodies such as Action Against Hunger, Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council
The aforementioned problem has provoked the researcher to investigate the Role of armed conflict that affect the welfare of internally displaced person: A case of CEFORA in Buea Municipality.
1.3 Research Question
1.3.1 Main Research Question
The Main question guiding this study is how does armed conflict affect the welfare of internally displaced person in the case of CEFORA in Buea Municipality?

1.3.2 Specific Research Questions