Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates local initiatives of unarmed civilian protection (UCP) in Cameroon's Anglophone conflict. It draws on findings from our research in Cameroon, highlighting some of the community-led unarmed civilian self-protection strategies and their accompanying challenges.

Paper long abstract:

This paper investigates community-led initiatives of unarmed civilian protection (UCP) in the ‘Anglophone conflict’ in Cameroon, now in its seventh year. While much work on UCP has focused on the role of external actors, this research highlights grassroots efforts of civilian self-protection that involve vulnerable civilians’ own agency. The Anglophone conflict in Cameroon is a civil war between state security forces and armed separatist groups fighting for an independent republic of Ambazonia in the Northwest and Southwest regions, the former British Southern Cameroons. The armed separatist groups are based in the rural areas where the military undertakes a counterinsurgency campaign. Rural residents in the conflict zones are hugely affected, with over 200 villages razed, more than 6000 deaths and over one million people displaced since the conflict began. Subjected to violence from both warring parties, though predominantly from the military, civilians have been pro-active and resourceful in devising ways to protect each other, inclusive of non-verbal communication, direct negotiation, spontaneous strategies, and early warning mechanisms. The role of women’s groups is especially significant. The paper contributes to knowledge on informal and innovative grassroots measures of civilian self-protection by drawing on findings from our research in Cameroon in 2023, highlighting some of the community-led unarmed civilian protection strategies and their accompanying challenges.