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"Canada welcomes the agreement by the parties to enter a process
to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and political resolution of
the conflict," foreign minister Mélanie Joly, said in a
statement on Friday.
The statement said Canada had accepted a mandate to facilitate
the process and the parties have agreed to form technical
committees to begin work on confidence-building measures.
The armed conflict, which began in 2017, stems from a perceived
marginalisation of Cameroon's English-speaking community by the
French-speaking majority in the central African state.
Since then, factions of secessionist militias have been battling
government troops in the two English-speaking regions in an
attempt to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia.
A 2019 national dialogue that granted special status to the two
Anglophone regions, failed to resolve the conflict which has
escalated. Nearly 800,000 people have been displaced, and
600,000 children do not have full access to education, Canada
said.
"The parties to this agreement are the Republic of Cameroon, the
Ambazonia Governing Council and the Ambazonia Defence Force, the
African People's Liberation Movement and the Southern Cameroons
Defence Force, the Interim Government, and the Ambazonia
Coalition Team. The parties further express the hope that other
groups will join the process," the statement said.
A spokesman for government did not immediately reply to a
request for comment on Saturday. Spokespersons for the
separatist factions could not be reached for comments.
(Reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Writing by Bate Felix;
Editing by Toby Chopra)
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