Credit: francediplomacy.twitter /  Jean-Yves Le Drian, France Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is visiting Cameroon from October 23 to 25.

By Gary Raynaldo   /  DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is visiting Cameroon from October 23 to 25, France’s foreign ministry said Wednesday in a statement.  Foreign Minister Le Drian is scheduled to meet with President Paul Biya and the leaders of the political parties represented in Cameroon’s parliament, as well as the main facilitators of the major national dialogue which took place from September 30 to October 4, aimed at providing a response to the crisis in the country’s English-speaking regions.  Minister Le Drian will  also urge his interlocutors to maintain the momentum of the dialogue initiated. He will express France’s support for the implementation of the conclusions of the major national dialogue, notably with respect to decentralization.

Foreign minister Le Drian will also reaffirm France’s support for Cameroon in the fight against terrorism, in particular with respect to the fight against the terrorist group, Boko Haram, which continues to be a threat in the far north of the country. He will meet with representatives of the populations affected by this scourge. Le Drian will meet with French and Cameroonian entrepreneurs in Douala to talk about cooperation and economic development projects between the two countries, the French Ministry said.

UN Chief Concerned Over Humanitarian Crisis in Cameroon Anglophone Regions

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  Diplomatic Times file / United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

Humanitarians have called the Anglophone situation in the Central African nation Cameroon one of the most neglected crises in the 21st century, with more than 2 000 people killed and hundreds of homes burnt. Some 500,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed concern  over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Cameroon.  Eight out of Cameroon’s ten regions are being impacted by various humanitarian crises, with around 4.3 million people in need of emergency assistance.  That is a 30 per cent increase from last year, according to the UN.