Assessing the Effectiveness of Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Role of NGOs in the Cameroon Anglophone Conflict: A Survey of the Affected Communities

Purpose: The Anglophone conflict has attracted interest from different stakeholders around the world, including international and local NGOs that are providing humanitarian and peacebuilding services to the affected communities. Despite their efforts to curb the negative effects of the conflict and improve human security, the situation remains stagnant, despite some relative peace in certain parts of the two regions. The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the humanitarian and peacebuilding role of these NGOs in the conflict


Findings:
The findings also revealed that less than half (40.1%) of the affected population benefited from the humanitarian supplies.Also, the majority (62.1%) of those who benefited were females.A greater proportion (36.7%) of the respondents reported that the NGOs delivered humanitarian aid only after two years, meaning they were not regular.The study also revealed a significant difference between North West and South West region respondents' assessments of NGOs possession of means to address humanitarian and peacebuilding concerns of the affected communities with the Chi-Square test result of  2 =44.493, df = 3 and P-value <.000.Thereby, rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the hypothesis.Hence, the NGOs were not effective in their humanitarian and peacebuilding role in the Cameroon Anglophone conflict.

INTRODUCTION
The escalation of the Anglophone crisis into a violent conflict in 2017 has remarkably dominated political discussions in Cameroon.The conflict that resulted following strike actions initiated by both lawyers and teachers of the English-speaking expression of the country in 2016 has resulted in a devastating conflict that has been described by observers as one of the bloodiest internal conflicts Cameroon has ever witnessed since independence (Moki, 2020:1).Since then, the Anglophone conflict has attracted interest from various stakeholders around the world including International and Local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
With a death toll of over 6000 and the displacement of 765,000 persons as reported in Pelican (2022), large-scale insecurity has continued to affect the population in some parts of the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon as a result of the Anglophone conflict.This has led to a humanitarian crisis in these regions.Despite Cameroon's government peacebuilding efforts to curb the adverse effects of the conflict and to improve human security, the situation remains stagnant in the face of some semblance of peace in certain parts of the two regions.Both international and local non-governmental organisations have come in to provide humanitarian and peacebuilding services to the affected population.
The deadlock is born out of inadequate measures to address the conflict with the protagonists presenting opposing views on the way forward.As a result, thousands of citizens have fled to the bushes.At the same time, over 20,000 persons have taken refuge in neighbouring Nigeria (Cocks, 2018:2).In addition, Schumann, Willis, Angove and Mbinkar (2023) and Pelican (2022) reported that several acts of unlawful killings have been committed by both separatists and government security forces since the conflict went violent.As noted earlier, Pelican (2022) stated that over 6000 persons have been killed and the displacement of an estimated 765,000 has taken place since the conflict started.
To complement the State's actions, international and local NGOs have brought in their humanitarian and peacebuilding expertise.Despite the presence of these NGOs that are involved in humanitarian and peacebuilding actions, there is noticeably little improvement in the human security and peacebuilding situation in the two English-speaking regions in Cameroon affected by the conflict.On the contrary, the humanitarian crisis has worsened with people abandoning their homes to seek safety in secured areas within the North West and South West Regions, other regions or neighbouring Nigeria.There have been attacks on students and teachers by separatists leaving many dead and others injured.Sometimes, students, teachers and other persons are also kidnapped for ransom and at times, they are killed if their relatives fail to comply.
As explained by Anheier (2014), non-profits (NGOs) cannot adequately provide or address a social problem at a required rate for its improvement.The study is guided by the belief that both international and local NGOs will not effectively play their humanitarian and peacebuilding roles during Cameroon Anglophone conflict because donations, as well as other forms of non-profit revenue sources they depend on, are often not sufficient to provide these services adequately.This study therefore examines the paradox between the observed presence of International None-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and Local None-Governmental Organisations (LNGOs) in the North West & South West Regions of Cameroon since the conflict started and the simultaneous deterioration of the humanitarian situation in this part of the country.This study has two objectives.First, to identify the humanitarian and peacebuilding role of the NGOs and secondly, to examine the effectiveness of the NGOs in performing these roles during the Cameroon Anglophone conflict.

The Geopolitical Evolution of Cameroon's History and the Anglophone Conflict
It is important to do a geopolitical presentation of Cameroon before proceeding to its history and political evolution that has shaped the country over the years.Cameroon is geographically situated in the western part of Central Africa, on the bight of the Biafra, known as the bay of the eastern Atlantic Ocean.It is bounded at the East by the Central African Republic (CAR), at the North by Chad, at the West by Nigeria, and at the South by Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Congo respectively (Ngoh, 1979).It covers a territorial surface area of 475,442 km2 with a global population of 24,791,160 inhabitants as per the results of the Cameroon -Third General Census of Population and Housing 2005 cited by Mbarga (2021).
Cameroon was initially annexed by the Germans in 1884 but later partitioned into two parts after this colonial master lost the First World War in 1916.This division ended with 20% of the territory under British control and 80% under the French as mandated territories under the League of Nations (Awasom, 2000;Fanso, 1989;and Njeuma, 1995).As explained by Koreshi (2011), the collapse of the League of Nations led to the change of the two parts of Cameroon from mandated territories under the British and French to trusteeship territories under the United Nations at the end of the Second World War in 1946.Fanso (1989) argued that the Anglo-French partition of Cameroon in 1916 created separate nationalist aspirations and movements in the two territories.This argument is based on the political administrative approaches of the British and the French in their respective territories.Looking at the French political administrative rule in the eastern part of Cameroon, Dupraz (2019) asserted that, though as a mandated territory, France almost continued with the German political rigour, hegemony, and centralisation geared at assimilation as if Cameroon was its colony.The "indigenat" (system of government which virtually deprived the natives of most of their fundamental rights) was applied; they also established extrajudicial trials of natives for up to 10 years of jail.The French administration had the power to mete extrajudicial sanctions upon natives for a wide range of offences (Hodgkin, 1957:35).
This was not the same approach by the British in administering its part of the territory.Tanjong (2012) disclosed that the British divided its share into two parts, that is, British Northern Cameroon and British Southern Cameroon and ruled it as an integral part of Nigeria.The British approach was indirect rule allowing the natives to execute judicial and executive decisions (Lee & Schultz, 2011).According to Jua (1995), this meant that the Cameroonians in this part would willingly rather than have to be coercively forced to comply.Jua (1995) further explained that this gave citizens of British Cameroon autonomy that helped to establish "a greater vitality of local political institutions in West Cameroon", which was contrary to what was obtained in the French-administered part.Fanso (1989) claimed that the Anglo-French partition of Cameroon in 1916 created separate nationalist aspirations and movements in the two territories.These separate aspirations are a function of how both parts were administered under the British and French rules.Consequently, this has led to lots of cultural, social and political differences that have existed between these two parts of Cameroon from reunification till date.After gaining independence in 1960 (for French Cameroon) and 1961 (for English Cameroon by joining the French part), Fanso (1989) reported that it soon became obvious that the cultural, social and political divides between the two linguistic groups were more fundamental and more difficult to bridge than the initial aspirations of the nationalists whose aims were to establish a united and independent Cameroon.The Federal Constitution arrived at in 1961 by the fathers of reunification kept the two linguistic groups distinct with the people of each community firmly attached to their colonial cultural heritage in terms of education, judiciary, politics and other social aspects.
Fru and Wassermann (2017:1) explained that complaints of the systematic abrogation of the federal constitution (that stood as the basis for reunification), marginalisation, assimilation, and internal colonisation emerged among the minority Anglophone Population of Cameroon after the 1961 reunification of Cameroon.The feeling of marginalisation leading to the Anglophone problem and eventually Anglophone conflict has been addressed by different scholars.Echu (2004) stated that Cameroonians decry being subjected to communal disadvantage, which to them constitutes an aftermath of Reunification.Echu (2004) further stated that Anglophones complained of being treated by both Francophones and the State of Cameroon at large, as second-class citizens in their own country.
As the "Anglophone Problem" continued to dominate the political agenda in Cameroon with some Anglophone Cameroonians requesting a quest for federalism, Ngange and Moki (2019) reported that there was also an emergence of a secessionist group known as the Southern Cameroon National Congress (SCNC) that started demanding for the independence of the former British Southern Cameroons territory.Moki, Ngange, Matute and Eyong-Eta (2022) showed that the current conflict rocking the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon was born around October 2016 after government security forces brutalised Common Law lawyers for demonstrating to express their frustration with the government in what they termed marginalisation of Anglophones in the publication of the OHADA Laws.The Common Law lawyers claimed this act undermined the constitution that prescribes the bilingual and also the bi-jural nature of Cameroon.Teachers from the English part later joined the striking lawyers on November 21, 2016.This paralysed the Anglophone sub-system of education in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon from basic to higher education leading to heavy confrontations between protesters and security officers especially in the streets of the North West Regional capital, Bamenda.This later in 2017 metamorphosed into an armed struggle between separatists who now call for a complete independence of Anglophone Cameroon (the Ambazonia State).

Defining NGOs and Tracing their Origin
The UN (1998) and Roche (2005) define NGOs as organisations that are privately owned with goals which are non-profit and non-lucrative in nature.They have a legal status with members who are task-oriented and driven with a common interest.They perform a variety of services including humanitarian and peacebuilding functions at local and international levels.Colosio (2020) described Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as crucial actors in the humanitarian field whose principal interventions are mostly providing emergency relief for vulnerable and suffering people.Tracing the history of NGOs in humanitarian intervention, Colosio (2020) pointed out that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) constitutes the core of modern humanitarian intervention that was created in 1863 after the massacre at the Battle of Solferino (1859).It was later recognised as a transnational humanitarian organisation by the Geneva Conventions in 1949.Werker and Ahmed (2008) disclosed that the role of NGOs in international development has witnessed a boost since the end of World War II, principally in the fields of humanitarian assistance and poverty alleviation.Ferris (2005) reported that a global boost in the creation of NGOs was realised in the 1980s, with a number of faith-based organisations (Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, etc.) getting involved in delivering humanitarian aid.Non-Governmental Organisations' involvement in global politics has progressively increased its leverage.NGOs represent political values, interests, and requests that cut across the borders of states.As well, they contribute to the success of many trans-national and world-level actions and programs.Hence, they are also recognised by policy-makers as actors of the world political system, and as the reserved domain of states (Irrera, 2010:2).The changing nature of conflict entails a parallel transformation of the tools for humanitarian intervention.
At the end of the Cold War, there was a recrudescence of so-called weak or collapsing states.Institutional weakness, absence of rule of law, and economic stagnation were identified as some causes of the new wars (Holsti, 1996).Unlike conventional wars, new wars are asymmetric conflicts, waged by state and non-state actors' intrastate wars (Kaldor, 1999).The creation of Amnesty International in 1961, Doctors Without Borders in 1971, and an organisation that subsequently became the Human Rights Watch in 1978 introduced an array of interventions, and thus constituted an important step in humanitarian intervention (Irrera, 2010:6).After over many years of intervention in various critical situations, Lewis (2009) stated that NGOs are now recognised as key third sector actors in the area of development, human rights, humanitarian interest, environment, and many other areas of public action, from the post-2004 tsunami reconstruction efforts in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, to the 2005 "Make Poverty History" campaign for aid and trade reform and developing country debt cancellation.
In terms of peacebuilding, Mostashari (2005:2) stated that INGOs have a history dating as far back as 1839 when they were instrumental to the anti-slavery movement and the movement for women's suffrage, and their activities reached a peak at the time of the World Disarmament Conference.He argues that the term NGO gained general acceptance in 1945 following the need for the UN to differentiate in its charter, between participation rights for intergovernmental specialized agencies and those for international private organisations.In the same light, Lewis (2009) supported that, NGOs have existed in various forms for centuries, but they rose to higher prominence in international development and increased their numbers dramatically in the 1980s and 1990s.Charnovitz (1997) noted that the involvement of NGOs seems to rise when governments need them and to fall when governments and international bureaucracies gain self-confidence, suggesting a cyclical pattern.At the UN, all civil society organisations working independently from the government are considered NGOs.They are expected to be non-criminal and should not constitute a challenge to the government as a political party.In the same vein, Anderson (1999) set up a framework labelled "Do No Harm", developed in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda by his organisation, Collaborative Development Action (CDA), a project from1994 to 2001 that aimed at developing concrete strategies to help International Organisations curb contributing to conflict.Independence remains an important factor in determining an NGO's credibility.
However, it has been established that it is difficult for them to be independent as some individual governments sometimes influence the NGO community in a particular sector, by creating NGOs that enhance their activities, known as Government-Organised NGOs

The Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Role of NGOs
Looking at the role of NGOs in general, Nesbit (2003) cited Coltart (2016), stated that there are four main kinds of actions NGOs perform during conflict resolution.These actions or roles include; advocacy, policy work, provision of relief and humanitarian aid, and empowerment.In the same view, Attack (1999) cited in Kavitha (2017) added that NGOs are interested in working in the area of humanitarian relief, long-term development, policy formation and political advocacy.
NGOs that are involved in advocacy focus their efforts on providing a voice for those who are unable to speak on their own and also advocate for important social issues, such as human rights, poverty and environmental issues.Advocacy NGOs also engage in lobbying governmental actors for social, economic and political change (Nyamugasira, 1998).It is equally mentioned by Hudson (2002) that NGOs are more and more showing interest in advocacy and policy work.Their efforts are more directed at influencing the behaviour and policies of consumers, corporations, governments, and international organisations.Policy work according to Nesbit (2003) cited Coltart (2016), entails hand-off methods which are more systematic and preventive in nature employed by NGOs.That is, they research the root causes of conflict and determine how to re-order social institutions to mitigate and prevent conflict.They prescribe the consultation of the community sector during policy development.
One of the most involved methods NGOs use during conflict situations, whether to prevent or resolve them is the provision of relief and humanitarian aid.According to Nesbit (2003) cited Coltart (2016), relief and humanitarian aid come in the form of giving food and medical services and caring for displaced persons.Smock (1996) maintained that NGOs have saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Africa through the provision of humanitarian assistance.
When it comes to humanitarian activities, Irrera (2010) maintained that humanitarian NGOs play a laudable role in overhauling the humanitarian system by participating in saving lives, alleviating peoples' suffering, maintaining human dignity during and after conflicts, and preventing and strengthening preparedness for future occurrences.They protect civilians as well as belligerents who have relinquished arms, provide food and non-food item assistance to affected people and facilitate the return to normal life and livelihood.It is further stated in Irrera (2010) that dialogue with NGOs has been institutionalised by the United Nations because these organisations have been found to play significant roles unaccomplished by the state and international actors like intergovernmental organisations.Kent, Armstrong & Obrecht (2013) stated that NGOs have always served as catalysts for the wider humanitarian sector.According to them, these include the role in advocacy for forgotten emergencies and the promotion of accountability standards.Kent et al (2013) however recommended that NGOs need to go beyond the above-mentioned roles to add their value by promoting new types of innovations and innovative practices as well as seeking to identify new types of threats and different coalitions of partners.
NGOs with humanitarian interests can formulate captivating projects and campaigns that interest donors.Due to the resources they mobilise, they are perceived as a threat to some states with whom they sometimes compete for funding.Consequently, governments often obstruct or ignore them.However, the growth of NGOs is not synonymous with a state's weakness or decline.Cakmak (2008) added that civil society also has the potential to flourish within the ambit of strong, stable, and effective governments.That is because, in a heterogeneous context, the market and the government turn to satisfy the demand of the majority, while that of the minority remains unattended.Hence, NGOs play significant roles in complementing the state and international actors like intergovernmental organisations.
In the peacebuilding context, there exist specific features of NGOs that triggered donors' choice vis-à-vis them as follows: Mawlawi (1993) argued that NGOs are entities with semi-official status, who enjoy flexibility; unlike state institutions they are impartial; they can build relationships over the long term; thus, they are predisposed to better-resolving conflicts, and to prevent further violence by acting as witnesses and providing protective accompaniment to groups subjected to threat.As well, Van-Leeuwen (2009) also explains that Northern NGOs have been engaging in humanitarian development including advocacy work in armed conflicts prone areas.The involvement of Northern NGOs in conflict settings has been saluted as a pattern of increased securitization.
Abdulrahman (2014: 9) recognised that NGOs played significant roles in peacebuilding in Darfur and contributed enormously to its development process by building schools, hospitals, and youth centres.Tanga and Fonchingong (2009) corroborated that some NGOs enhance wellbeing in Cameroon within the framework of health education and training, environment, women's development, democracy, and human rights, rural and urban development, capacity building and research, HIV/AIDS sensitization and community development in partnership with community-based organisations, in order to curb structural violence.
Following NGOs' significant role played in Cameroon and elsewhere, they are considered key civil-society intermediaries in peacebuilding and development (Tanga and Fonchingong, 2009).However, Fischer (2006), pointed out that research reveals that NGOs are insufficiently equipped to carry out significant structural change in society.As well, scholars argue that donors have limited chances to succeed in generating political and economic change via Civil Society.Within the same framework, William (1991) identifies some NGOs' advantages and challenges as follows.Sarkar (2009) within the framework of a master's thesis, examines NGOs' role in cyclone disaster management in Bangladesh: focusing on cyclone Sidr in Patuakhali.The researcher's abstract constitutes a sort of elusive background to the study.Therein, he failed to present the summary of his work.Also, he did not outline the objective, the methodology employed, as well as the presentation of findings and recommendations of his research.The researcher failed to critically look at the role of NGOs in Bangladesh because he had the derogatory imagination that "In principle, NGOs are responsible for assisting the government in implementing national programmes successfully" (Sarkar, 2009).He failed to understand that the organisations have a mission to complement the government's action on the field, especially in failing states.In his work, the researcher did not provide any research question but outlined three objectives, among which was to assess the problems faced by NGOs in cyclone disaster management.In the course of the work, the researcher omitted to look at the problems faced by the NGOs.As well, he did not emit any hypothesis, nor present research instruments to be employed.He presented a sample size of 40 respondents, notably 30 victims and 10 NGO workers, without any other precisions.However, the sample size seems not to be representative enough for the study.
The researcher outlined some NGO functions performed in Patuakhali-Bangladesh, notably: adaptation and mitigation strategies including agricultural alternative programmes, provision of drinking water and sanitation programmes, income generating activities, infrastructure development programmes, information dissemination, disaster preparedness programmes, and quick relief programmes which are undertaken by different NGOs to reduce socio-economic vulnerability of the poor and community as a whole.However, the researcher failed to present the outcome of the various activities.Nevertheless, he stated that "there seems to exist a widespread opinion that NGOs should and could play a more efficient and effective role as partners in the social and economic development of the country" (Sarkar, 2009).From that premise, it could be unambiguously inferred that the role of NGOs therein was not significant enough.

Identifying the Research Gap
Despite the abundance of literature on NGOs in humanitarian and peacebuilding, the researchers noticed that most researchers were interested in humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding in a post-conflict context, while very few researchers addressed this situation in an ongoing conflict context.Moreover, during this academic exercise, the researchers have not identified any single academic work that has tackled studies on the humanitarian and peacebuilding role of INGOs and LNGOs in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon.Miall, Ramsbotham and Wodhouse (1999: 17) adhered that conflict transformation is of chief importance and efficiency within the ambit of asymmetric conflicts such as the Anglophone Conflict.The conflict transformation process will therefore enable NGOs to alter the attitudes and behaviours of belligerents of the Anglophone Conflict and consequently break the peace deadlock that existed between parties.This research work would therefore fill the identified research gap that would constitute a fundamental contribution to science.

Theoretical Review
This study is guided by the interdependence or voluntary failure theory.This theory was originally developed by John Thibaut and Harold Kelley in 1959.Interdependence is defined as the relationship between two or more parties that depend on each other for survival.The theory was initially formulated to explain a striking paradox in contemporary analyses of the non-profit sector in the American setting (Wolpert, 2003:1).The Interdependence or voluntary failure theory was initially extended by Kelley and Thibaut (1978), Kelley, Clark, Brown and Sitzia (2003) and other theorists.Anheier (2014:1) presented the theory as a "situation in which a non-profit cannot adequately provide a service or address a social problem at a scale necessary for its alleviation."The rationale is that donations as well as other forms of nonprofit revenue sources are often not sufficient to provide adequate services to persons of concern targeted by both International and Local NGOs in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon.

METHODOLOGY
This study made use of the quantitative research approach.A survey of residents of the affected regions was done using a questionnaire designed with open and closed-ended questions administered to residents in the affected communities in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon.Precisely; Mezam, Momo, Menchum, and Bui Divisions in the North West Region and Fako, Meme, and Manyu Divisions of the South West Regions were the areas where the questionnaires were distributed.Despite the fact these two regions were purposively selected, not all the divisions could be accessed for data collection at the time of this study due to insecurity caused by the ongoing Cameroon Anglophone conflict.The sampling procedure was based on Amin (2005) who recommended quota or proportionate sampling.
Given that this study was conducted during the conflict, it was difficult to apply systematic random sampling since it was not possible to list all the members of the population of interest due to displacement of the population.The researchers could only obtain data from accessible individuals the researchers met and who were ready to respond to the questionnaire.As recommended by Krejcie and Morgan (1970), it requires a sample of at least 385 for a population of 1,000,000.Considering that the 2005 Third General Census of the Population and Housing in Cameroon cited by Mbarga (2021), indicated that the population of the North West Region was 1,728,953 inhabitants while the South West had 1,316,079, indicating there are more people in the North West than in the South West Region, this scholars arrived a sample 750 respondents for this study with 400 questionnaires for the North West Region, and 350 the South West Region.However, 639 questionnaires were properly filled and returned giving a return or response rate of 85.2%.Data were collected for a period of two months.The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used in this study to analyse the survey data.Descriptive statistics using simple frequency tables have been used to present the statistical data.Descriptive statistics was conducted to observe the distribution of the data while the Chi-square test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to test the research hypotheses.

FINDINGS Demographic Description of Respondents
Out of the 639 respondents, 55.1% were based in the North West Region while 44.9% were in the South West Region.A majority (59.3%) of the respondents in this study were females, compared to 40.7% for males.A greater proportion (43.8%) was made up of those who said they were married, followed by 39.7%, 8.8%, 3.4%, 2.3% and 1.9% for single, widows, divorced, undisclosed status and widowers, respectively.In terms of their educational level, a greater proportion (36.2%) of the population reported that their level was primary education, followed by 28.3% for secondary education, 11.3% for high school, 10.6% for informal education, 8.3% for higher education, 3.6% failed to declare their educational level and 1.7% reported for other qualifications.Also, the data revealed that a greater percentage of the population was between the 21-30 and 31-40 age groups with 25.0% and 26.9%, respectively.This was followed by the 41-50 and 51-60 age groups with 18.9% and 13.9%, correspondingly.The age groups, 61-70, less than 21, 71 and above and those who failed to disclose their ages were also represented by 6.3%, 3.3%, 3.1% and 2.5%, respectively.According to the data, some 37.6% of those interviewed were internally displaced as compared to 62.4%.Also, the data disclosed that 10.5% of the respondents were made up of persons living with disabilities, whereas, 88.3% of them were not living with disabilities.However, some 1.3% of the respondents failed to disclose their physical state.The data in Table 1 presents the percentage distribution of the various services local and international NGOs offered to respondents in the North West and South West Regions in the ongoing Anglophone conflict in Cameroon.In the North West Region, the respondents acknowledged that Plan-Cameroon placed more attention on the provision of foodstuff with a score of 21%, while education, healthcare, childcare, protection, provision of relief, and advocacy roles were less felt as indicated by scores of 8.2%, 8.0%, 7.4%, 4.3%, 3.7%, and 3.1%, respectively.On the other hand, the domains of wealth creation, accommodation, and recreational activities were inadequately provided, while re-socialisation and remobilisation recorded 0.0% each.

Identifying Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Activities Offered by the NGOs
The humanitarian and peacebuilding role performed by Reach-Out-Cameroon in the North West Region was rated very low at 1.1% for both childcare and provision of foodstuff, 0.9% for protection, education, health care, or provision of relief, 0.6% for both advocacy and wealth creation, while the rest of the activities were all rated at 0.0%.The case of LUKEMEF was even lower with only 0.3% of the respondents saying they benefited from this NGO in the areas of education or wealth creation.Moreover, 0.0% was reported for other activities provided by LUKEMEF.It is worth noting that the Danish Refugee Council had not yet started providing humanitarian services in the North West Region at the time this data was collected.However, some of the respondents in this region who reported that they had benefited from this NGO explained to the researcher and his team that they happened to have done so when they resided in the South West Region before relocating to the North West Region.
As concerns the South West Region, the data depicts that Plan International Cameroon had paid more attention to foodstuff provision (25.4%) and healthcare (13.2%).This was followed by wealth creation at 7.7% and childcare at 4.2%.Other areas like recreational and resocialization each received 0.0% attention.Similarly, the Danish Refugee Council is reported to have paid more attention to foodstuff provision (34.5%), healthcare (23.0%), and less so for the provision of relief packages (4.9%).Activities like advocacy, protection, education, wealth creation, etc., recorded very low percentages (less than one), while re-socialisation scored 0.0%.
Also, the respondents rated LUKMEF to have played a 19.5% role in foodstuff provision, followed by 5.6% for the provision of relief.Activities like education, protection, childcare, healthcare, and wealth creation were rated with far lower percentages, while accommodation, recreational, and remobilisation were rated 0.0%.The respondents rated Reach-Out-Cameroon to have done more in the area of health care at 21.6% and foodstuff provision at 19.9%.Provision of relief represented 6.3% while very low attention was paid to protection, education, childcare, wealth creation, accommodation, and re-socialisation at percentages lesser than two.
In summary, it can be deduced from the data that respondents in the South West Region benefited more from the NGOs than those in the North West Region.In the North West Region, only Plan Cameroon International was rated at 21.0% for foodstuff provision.Percentages for activities other than foodstuff provision were rated very low across other NGOs.A closer look at the data suggests that Plan International Cameroon was rated at 25.4% for foodstuff provision.Danish Refugee Council was rated at 34.5% for foodstuff provision and 23.0% for healthcare.LUKMEF, on the other hand, was rated at 19.5% for foodstuff provision, while Reach-Out-Cameroon was rated higher at 21.6% for healthcare and 19.9% for foodstuff provision.Taken together, the results show that the selected NGOs appeared to pay more attention to foodstuff provision compared to other areas of activities.
Globally, the humanitarian and peacebuilding role of the selected NGOs described in this study during the ongoing Anglophone conflict is rated very low.The percentages of respondents who agreed to have benefited from the different activities the NGOs provided were extremely very low be it at the level of international or local NGOs in both the North West and the South West Regions of Cameroon which are affected by the Anglophone conflict.Source: Field Work, 2022 The data in Table 2 shows the distribution of beneficiaries of humanitarian and peacebuilding relief support from the selected NGOs in the North West and South West Regions during the Anglophone conflict.They revealed that the majority (59.9%) of the respondents in both regions did not benefit from these supports as compared to 40.1% who said they did.However, the data revealed that amongst those who benefited, a greater proportion were those in the South West Region with 27.1% as against 13.0% for those in the North West Region.On the other hand, there were more (42.1%) of respondents from the North West Region who did not benefit as compared to 17.8% in the South West Region.
Hypothesis one: There is a significant difference between respondents with poor health situations who benefited from humanitarian assistance provided by NGOs and those who are healthy.From the data in Table 3, it can be deduced that more healthy people (30.0%) benefited from receiving humanitarian assistance from the NGOs than those who were sick, as they represented only 10.0% of the entire population under study.The data also shows that there respectively noted that the supplies were sufficient while in the North West and South West, only 7.2% and 5.2%, in that order stated that the supplies were insufficient.
At the level of the quality assessment, a greater proportion (48.8%) of those who benefited from these supplies also confirmed that they were of average quality.While 27.3% of the respondents damned the quality of the supplies stating they were of low quality, 23.8% maintained they were of high quality.At the regional level, the majority (52.0%) of the respondents in the South West Region reported that the supplies were of average quality, whereas in the North West Region, less than half (42.2%) of the respondents said the humanitarian supplies were of average quality.However, for respondents who stated the supplies were of low quality, the proportion was higher in the North West Region (36.1%) than in the South West Region (23.1%).
The overall impressions of the respondents relating to the humanitarian supplies from the NGOs show that a greater percentage (42.4%) of them have a good impression of the humanitarian supplies from these NGOs, followed by 35.1% of those whose impressions were fair, and only 17.2% of those who had a bad impression of these NGOs.Within the regions, the proportion of respondents who had a good impression of the NGO supplies was 46.3%.This is higher compared to those in the North West Region at 39.2%.The data further revealed that 21.0% of the respondents in the North West Region had a bad impression of the humanitarian supplies by the NGOs as compared with those in the South West Region at 12.5% Hypothesis two: There is a significant difference between North West and South West region respondents' assessment of NGOs possessed means to address Humanitarian and peacebuilding concerns of the affected communities.Respondents were asked to make an assessment on whether the NGOs possessed adequate means to significantly address the humanitarian concerns in communities of the Anglophone Regions.The data presented in Table 7 depicts that a greater percentage (48.8%) of the respondents feel that the NGOs' means were just averagely sufficient to address their needs.Some 33.2% said the NGOs' means were adequate while 15.5% said the means NGOs had were inadequate to address their needs.These trends differ when analysed regionally.Almost half (46.7%) of the respondents in the South West Region stated that the means NGOs possessed were adequate to address their needs while only 22.2% of those in the North West Region.On the other hand, while a majority (58.0%) of the respondents in the North West Region said the commitment by NGOs, and that NGOs avoided the hinterlands.The lowest percentage (3.8%)was reported for poor delivery policies.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
After all, the evidence presented in this study, it could be concluded that the international and local NGOs have played two major roles in the ongoing Cameroon Anglophone conflict.This involves the provision of humanitarian services and relief packages in the form of foodstuff, healthcare, etc., and the promotion of social cohesion for the return of peace in these affected regions through creating opportunities for re-socialization, remobilization, recreation, etc., for reintegration to take place.This ties in with Masayo (2011), Davies (2012), Götz, Brewis, and Werther (2020), who reported that nutritional, material, and medical assistance, etc., are fundamental items supplied during humanitarian assistance.Likewise, this also ties with Bigombe (2021).According to Bigombe (2021), disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration are the social imperatives to be initiated toward peacebuilding.However, the findings showed that the NGOs were focused more on providing humanitarian aid and assistance to the affected population than working towards peacebuilding.
It can also be concluded that not up to half of the affected population benefited from the humanitarian supplies since only 40.1% said they did.Also, the majority (62.1%) of those who benefited were females.It can also be concluded that the humanitarian and peacebuilding actions of the NGOs on the field were not regular as a greater proportion (36.7%) reported that the periodicity of delivery of humanitarian aid was after two years.Notwithstanding, the population's overall assessment of the quality, quantity, adequacy, and importance of humanitarian support was average.Also, a greater proportion (20.7%) of those who said they were dissatisfied with the humanitarian assistance from the NGOs were those who had never benefited from their supplies.Meaning that their assessment of the NGOs was based on personal interest and not on that of the general public.
The data further showed that more healthy people (30.0%) benefited from receiving humanitarian assistance from the NGOs than those who were sick with just 10.0%.Using an ANOVA test (the Tukey Honest Significant Difference, HSD) the statistics produced a significance value of 0.000.This value is less than the threshold value of 0.05, indicating that the gap between respondents with poor health situations who did not benefit from humanitarian assistance provided was very wide compared to those in good health who received it.Hence, the NGOs failed to effectively serve those in need.Only 33.2% of the respondents said the humanitarian and peacebuilding supports were adequate.The study also revealed a significant difference between North West and South West region respondents' assessment of NGOs possessed means to address Humanitarian and peacebuilding concerns of the affected communities with the Chi-Square test result of c 2 =44.493, df = 3 and P-value <.000.Only 22.2% of respondents in the North West Region considered the NGOs have sufficient means as compared to 46.7% for those in the South West Region.
Though 42.4%, representing a greater proportion of the respondents had a good impression of the humanitarian and peacebuilding support by the NGOs, a majority (50.8%) of them considered them to be just fairly important.Also, a majority (69.1%) of the respondents said that the quantity of humanitarian supplies was just average just like a greater proportion (48.8%) confirmed that quality was just average quality.Theoretically, this study is in line with the explanation by Anheier (2014) relating to the interdependence or voluntary failure theory where he argued that donations as well as other forms of non-profit revenue sources are often not sufficient to provide adequate services to the needy.
While a greater proportion (20.7%) of the population reported that they were dissatisfied with the NGOs because they never benefited from them, some 6.1% expressed dissatisfaction with the NGOs for failing to empower them.This data revealed that not everyone would like to be fed every day.Rather, they preferred being taught how to fish by being empowered.This ties with a popular saying "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime", which according to Kim and Yi, (2016), is a Chinese Proverb.
This study has therefore made contributions to existing knowledge on the role of NGOs in conflict situations by identifying two major areas.This includes providing humanitarian support to the affected population and promoting social cohesion for the return of peace.Despite their efforts in the field, this study concludes that the NGOs were not effective in their humanitarian and peacebuilding role in the Cameroon Anglophone conflict.
This study recommends NGOs should adopt a mechanism to enable humanitarian support arrived the sick and needy population who are more vulnerable than these ending up with wrong persons.They should also consider improving the regularity, quality and quantity of their humanitarian and peacebuilding activities if they want to be effective.NGOs should also consider empowering members of the affected populations to take care of themselves rather than thinking of continually providing them with their needs which are often insufficient.