By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 – As Cameroon's Internet cut-off to Anglophone areas extends toward 80 days, and the International Monetary Fund has told Inner City Press the cut-off presents a financial risk for 2017, the World Bank, part of the UN "family," brags that it expanding its disbursements to the country. "Elisabeth Huybens, Operations Director for the World Bank in Cameroon, said that the government made important progress in the disbursement of funding made available by the World Bank group. On 29 March, during a meeting at the Ministry of Economy, she revealed that the disbursement rate moved from 7.5% in 2016, to 23% last year. 'Globally speaking, we can say that the performance of the portfolio is relatively satisfactory. It considerably improved during the past 4 years thanks to the efforts of the project teams who I congratulate and the support of the government,'" she said. Does the World Bank have fewer standards than the IMF? We'll have more on this.
Inner City Press on March 31 asked UK Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft for the second time about the issue. On March 9, he said the UK keeps it under review. So what has been the findings of that review, after three more weeks of no Internet, show trials against human rights barristers, and threats against the media? It is still under review. Video here.From the UK transcript:
Inner City Press: Since your visit to the region, UNHCR has complained that Cameroon pushed out refugees back into Nigeria saying that the area wasn’t yet safe. Also, I have asked you about this before but it is now more than 70 days that the internet has been turned off in the Anglophone areas of Cameroon. One both issues, one were you aware, was this refugee issue raised during your trip and what do you think of the pushing back into Nigeria? And on the other issue, you say you monitor it, do you think things are getting better or worse? Thanks.
Amb Rycroft: So, on the first issue. Yes, absolutely, the refugee questions were central to our visit to all four countries. And I think that in each place we had the opportunity to say how important it was to the host governments and others to ensure that any returns of refuges are done in a voluntary way and done in a safe way and done in cooperation with the governments of the region. In fact the day that we arrived in Cameroon was the day after Cameroon and Nigeria had reached agreement with each other and with the United Nations on a tri-partite agreement for that very purpose.
On the other question, you are right - we keep it under constant review and we will carry on making our judgements about whether the situation is one that merits being put on the Security Council’s agenda or not."
Amb Rycroft: So, on the first issue. Yes, absolutely, the refugee questions were central to our visit to all four countries. And I think that in each place we had the opportunity to say how important it was to the host governments and others to ensure that any returns of refuges are done in a voluntary way and done in a safe way and done in cooperation with the governments of the region. In fact the day that we arrived in Cameroon was the day after Cameroon and Nigeria had reached agreement with each other and with the United Nations on a tri-partite agreement for that very purpose.
On the other question, you are right - we keep it under constant review and we will carry on making our judgements about whether the situation is one that merits being put on the Security Council’s agenda or not."
How is it not? Inner City Press asked both the International Monetary Fund and the UN Security Council's president about the crisis in Cameroon's Anglophone areas on March 9 and heard that while the IMF acknowledges the financial risk, the Security Council does not see it as a threat to international peace and security. But the UN's Resident Coordinator Najat Rochdi has said nothing about the crisis, and blocks on Twitter the Press which asks about it. Is the UN system failing, in its new Secretary General's promise of increased preventative diplomacy?
When the IMF's spokesperson Gerry Rice took questions on March 9, Inner City Press asked about Cameroon, specifically the crackdown in the northwest and southwest of the country. Inner City Press asked, "On Cameroon, after the mission led by Corinne Delechat, what is the status of talks for a program, and since the IMF cited “civil unrest in the neighboring Central African Republic,” please state the IMF's awareness of civil unrest and arrests in Northwest and Southwest Cameroon, also known as the Anglophone areas, and their impact." Rice read out the question and then said, among other things, that the risk factors for 2017 include a continuation of the "social and political events" in the "so-called Anglophone" areas of Cameroon. Interim video here. On IMF site, here, from 34:56. IMF transcript below.
But a few hours later when Inner City Press asked the month's UN Security Council president Matthew Rycroft of the UK, who had just been in Cameroon, about the crisis, he said it is not a threat to international peace and security. From the UK transcript:
Inner City Press: In Cameroon there’s an issue that has been existing since November in Anglophone areas which have no internet for 52 days, there’s been teachers arrested, no schools. So I’m wondering as one Council member said, it did somehow come up in meetings, but was the issue raised at all, and what response was given by the government to this ongoing cut off of internet and abuse in this area?
Amb Rycroft: It came up informally in our contacts with members of the Government of Cameron but as far as I recall it did not come up in any formal meeting, and I think that makes sense because we were going there to look at the threat to international peace and security, and Boko Haram, and related issues, but in private, informal discussions with ministers in the Government of Cameroon it came up and they gave us the benefit of their perspective on the issue.
Inner City Press: Is there any Security Council role that can be played in trying to preventively deal with this issue?
Amb Rycroft: I don’t think it’s an issue on our agenda per se, we keep our eye on our radar across the world, but we have to make a judgement about whether something is a threat to international peace and security, and at the moment, I think our judgement would be that issue is an issue that is confined within Cameroon without international aspects.
Amb Rycroft: It came up informally in our contacts with members of the Government of Cameron but as far as I recall it did not come up in any formal meeting, and I think that makes sense because we were going there to look at the threat to international peace and security, and Boko Haram, and related issues, but in private, informal discussions with ministers in the Government of Cameroon it came up and they gave us the benefit of their perspective on the issue.
Inner City Press: Is there any Security Council role that can be played in trying to preventively deal with this issue?
Amb Rycroft: I don’t think it’s an issue on our agenda per se, we keep our eye on our radar across the world, but we have to make a judgement about whether something is a threat to international peace and security, and at the moment, I think our judgement would be that issue is an issue that is confined within Cameroon without international aspects.
But the UN Resident Coordinator does nothing about it, says nothing, blocks the Press. Inner City Press asked the UN's holdover deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: the answer you sent about Mr. [Francois] Louncény Fall saying that he would raise issues to the authorities. Can you say whether the issue of the internet being off in two provinces for 52 days has been raised? And, secondarily, I wanted to ask you this. You announced from this podium that Najat Rochdi is going to Central African Republic as Resident Coordinator. What's the process to appoint a new Resident Coordinator for the UN system in Cameroon? And is it… is it… is it… can it be public in any way? It seems many people have complained that, while she was there, she never raised the Anglophone issue. And, in fact, I found that she blocks Inner City Press on Twitter, so I'm unable to ask her why this issue has not been raised. But what's the process to replace… and you can smirk, but should a UN official in their official account…?
Spokesman: That's an unrelated thing. I mean, obviously, all people… all individuals, not even just all UN officials, are free to block whoever they want on Twitter. That's within their rights.
Inner City Press: Including missions? So you think a peacekeeping mission should pick and choose which media can follow it?
Spokesman: Organizations will respond… are supposed to respond to press requests. Individuals can do whatever they like with their Twitter accounts.
Inner City Press: What's the process of replacing the Resident Coordinator in Cameroon?
Spokesman: It's the same as in any other place. There's a process that goes… that you go through, and the Resident Coordinator's selection process is supervised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Spokesman: That's an unrelated thing. I mean, obviously, all people… all individuals, not even just all UN officials, are free to block whoever they want on Twitter. That's within their rights.
Inner City Press: Including missions? So you think a peacekeeping mission should pick and choose which media can follow it?
Spokesman: Organizations will respond… are supposed to respond to press requests. Individuals can do whatever they like with their Twitter accounts.
Inner City Press: What's the process of replacing the Resident Coordinator in Cameroon?
Spokesman: It's the same as in any other place. There's a process that goes… that you go through, and the Resident Coordinator's selection process is supervised by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
This is at odds with the UN's claims to be transparent in its use of public money, and to be open to the press and impacted public, and will be pursued at Rochdi's next assignment at the UN in Central African Republic. But it raises the question: how are UN Resident Coordinators selected? Inner City Press reported on Ban Ki-moon's son in law Siddharth Chatterjee getting multiple promotion under Ban, including being named UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya by Ban himself. (Inner City Press was evicted by Ban's UN, and remains restricted under Ban's successor). But shouldn't Anglophone Cameroonians have some input into the UN's next Resident Coordinator in their country? This is a project for the Free UN Coalition for Access, @FUNCA_info. Watch these sites and feeds.
From the IMF's March 9 transcript:
"There is a question of Cameroon, from Matthew Lee, "After the Mission what is the status of talks for a program; and since the IMF cited civil unrest in the neighboring Central African Republic, please state the IMF's awareness of civil unrest and arrests in Northwest and Southwest Cameroon? And also known as the Anglophone areas, and their impact?"
So, the background here is, I think important the context. So, the Fund's engagement here in the CEMAC Region, CEMAC is the six Central African Economic nations that comprise the Central African Economic and monetary community. They met in Yaoundé on December 23rd. The Managing Director was there. And in that meeting, heads of state discussed the economic situation, the severe shocks that have hit that CEMAC region in recent years, including the sharp decline in oil prices, and decided to act collectively and in a concerted manner. And the heads of state requested the assistance of the IMF to design economic reforms needed to reestablish macroeconomic stability in each country and in the region as a whole.
So, again, context: I can tell you that the funders already sent missions to Gabon, Republic of Congo. And a reminder to you, that we already have programs with Central African Republic and Chad. Okay?
Now, we also have sent a mission to Cameroon, which is the question. And we did issue a press statement, which the question referred to, just on Tuesday. That was the Corrine Delechat reference.
So, the specific question, to turn to that. We are indeed aware of the events in the so-called Anglophone regions of Cameroon. The macroeconomic impact of any event that could affect production and/or consumption, is typically felt with a certain lag. So, these events started in November last year, and thus are likely to have not had a significant impact on production in 2016.
For 2017, the risks to our growth outlook include a combination of external and domestic factors, including continuation of the sociopolitical events in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon. And as our press release the other day indicated, our view is that the medium-term outlook for the Cameroonian economy remains positive, subject to the implementation of appropriate policies."
So, the background here is, I think important the context. So, the Fund's engagement here in the CEMAC Region, CEMAC is the six Central African Economic nations that comprise the Central African Economic and monetary community. They met in Yaoundé on December 23rd. The Managing Director was there. And in that meeting, heads of state discussed the economic situation, the severe shocks that have hit that CEMAC region in recent years, including the sharp decline in oil prices, and decided to act collectively and in a concerted manner. And the heads of state requested the assistance of the IMF to design economic reforms needed to reestablish macroeconomic stability in each country and in the region as a whole.
So, again, context: I can tell you that the funders already sent missions to Gabon, Republic of Congo. And a reminder to you, that we already have programs with Central African Republic and Chad. Okay?
Now, we also have sent a mission to Cameroon, which is the question. And we did issue a press statement, which the question referred to, just on Tuesday. That was the Corrine Delechat reference.
So, the specific question, to turn to that. We are indeed aware of the events in the so-called Anglophone regions of Cameroon. The macroeconomic impact of any event that could affect production and/or consumption, is typically felt with a certain lag. So, these events started in November last year, and thus are likely to have not had a significant impact on production in 2016.
For 2017, the risks to our growth outlook include a combination of external and domestic factors, including continuation of the sociopolitical events in the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon. And as our press release the other day indicated, our view is that the medium-term outlook for the Cameroonian economy remains positive, subject to the implementation of appropriate policies."
We'll have more on this. Watch this site.
