A Legal Assessment of the Effects of the Conflict in the English-Speaking Regions of Cameroon on Sustainable Development

Abstract

Sustainable development, as crystallized in major international legal and policy instruments, is contingent upon the coexistence of economic advancement, social justice, environmental protection, peace, and institutional stability. Despite the measures put in place for the promotion of sustainable development in Cameroon, the protracted Anglophone conflict has gravely affected the practical efficacy of these mechanisms. The crisis has led to widespread destruction of social infrastructure, aggravated poverty, displacement, and human rights violations, disrupted access to education and healthcare, and occasioned serious violations of fundamental human rights. These consequences are incompatible with the essential preconditions for sustainable development and have rendered its attainment in the affected regions ineffective. Although the State has adopted various initiatives, including the Grand National Dialogue, special status arrangements, reconstruction programs, and DDR mechanisms, these responses have not yielded a sufficiently coherent, inclusive, and enforceable framework capable of addressing the root causes of the crisis and restoring the conditions necessary for sustainable recovery. The study concludes that sustainable development in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon will remain more theoretical than real unless peacebuilding, accountability, human rights protection is treated as indispensable components of the development process. It therefore advocates a more rights-based, conflict-sensitive, and justice-oriented legal approach as the necessary foundation for meaningful and enduring sustainability in the affected regions.