Mobilising Youth Leaders to Counter HateSpeech and Conflict in Crisis Zones

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The recent rise in the wave of socio-political turmoil, armed conflicts and other social tensions witnessed in Cameroon; as well as the affluence of ethnic hate, especially online poses real life risk of widespread violence and abuse. Civic Watch thus saw the need to have peace waivers in the communities of the North West and South West Regions to monitor  actions taken both online and offline which have the tendency to compromise peaceful co-existence. 

The Anglophone crisis, in addition to the inter-community and inter-religious conflicts, has for some years been exacerbating tensions between communities and the frustrations that perpetuate the cycle of hate and violence in these communities. To reduce hate speech and violence in these regions, our aim is to bring together young leaders so that they can be the weavers of peace and implement innovative strategies to reduce the level of frustration, tension and hate within their communities.

A three-day bootcamp shall be organized with the aim of enforcing 30 youth leaders’ capacities to raise awareness on the dangers of hate speech and violence both online and offline. These youths hail from the affected crisis zones and they master the realities of their communities. They will therefore be better placed to take actions to reduce the prominence of online and offline violence and hate speech. The selected youths will be trained on how to mitigate online hate speech, online provocation and online incitement to violence. The  social media code of conduct shared with them, will serve as a guide as they engage  online as well as  while working with individuals in their communities.  

The discussion during this training will be on  the crisis and its negative impact on social cohesion and community development in these conflict-hit regions. It will be under the theme: Mobilising Youth Leaders to Counter HateSpeech and Conflict in Crisis Zones. The youths coming from different cultural and religious backgrounds will help them discover the different cultures and be able to identify themselves in one another. The cross-cultural exchange and dialogue around conflict resolution will give them a wide scoop of how to tackle the different forms of hate speech and violent attacks they will have to resolve in their communities. 

The specific objectives during this training are; 

  • To encourage  intercultural mixing among young people, thereby promoting inter-community tolerance and acceptance of others (through 2 bootcamps)
  • To encourage  cross-community and inter-religious dialogue between community and religious leaders to promote their commitment to combating hate speech and violence.
  • To implement awareness-raising and empowerment campaigns to meet local needs (Education – Health – Socio-professional integration)

At the end of this bootcamp, Civic Watch Cameroon hopes to impact these youths and obtain positive outcomes such as: 

  • Building sustainable and peaceful communities through social cohesion
  •  Increasing understanding of the causes of the conflict and the importance of peacebuilding and reconciliation.
  • Improving inter-community relations and social cohesion.
  •  Drawing up a roadmap containing the major actions and responsibilities to prevent and combat hate speech in the North West and South West regions.
  •  Promoting social cohesion and sustainable development in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. The youth will also help to promote the importance of peacebuilding and reconciliation as a way to address these root causes and build a more peaceful future.
  •  Having these youths go back to their communities and do restitutions

After the training, these youth leaders will go to their communities and educate them on the importance of a peaceful coexistence and the need to tolerate one another’s differences in order to obtain a #HateFreeCommunity, and a #HateFreeCameroon. 

Back to school 2022-2023 : #HateFreeSchools in Cameroon

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Civic Watch in its implementation of the #defyhatenow initiative works to counter, mitigate #HateSpeech, violent extremism both online and offline in Cameroon. We equally work to empower youths to become peace building leaders in their school environment and communities.

This coming back to school 2022-2023 academic year, Civic Watch will accompany students with the aid of their teachers for a #HateFreeSchool. It is our aim to build these students with moral values, inculcate the habit of tolerance, a peaceful coexistence and living together. The past three years have recorded an increase of violence in school milieus. Reports of students stabbing peers and teachers, indulging in sexual immorality on campus and others involved in sharing nude videos online. In addition, the two English speaking regions of Cameroon have been timid with schooling in the past years due to the Anglophone conflict. Students fear they might become a target and lose their lives for going to school. Schools burnt down by unidentified men who threaten the lives of those who dare to go to school. Statistics published by Human Right Watch show that an estimated number of 700 000 children have been out of school between the year 2017 and 2021. This is one of the major reasons that Civic Watch Cameroon calls for an active and collective back to school campaign. 

depict the dire situation of children of school going age based in the conflict-struck regions

We will print out posters, print design pictures of peace and they will be posted in the school campuses, we will as well share with them the content of the #defyhatenow Hate Speech Mitigation Field Guide; like, the importance of peace, living together, tolerance and the dangers of violence, hate speech online and offline. In the end of this #HateFreeSchool Campaign, we will be sure of inculcating the spirit of building peace, importance of living together and giving them basic skills of mitigating hate speech in their schools and communities. We will want the students to realize that they need #PenNotGun to build a good and prosperous future for them and #HateFreeCameroon. This will help to fosters peace in #Cameroon and our society.

Civic Watch team will visit primary, secondary and university schools to have a talk with them. Other relay team members based in the North West and South West regions will visit schools there and have a talk with the students and pupils on the need of building a #HateFreeSchool for a brighter future. We begin from the primary level so that while growing they will know the importance of peace, acceptance and tolerance in their communities. They will learn that despite their difference in tribe, class, and religion, there is no difference between them. Their difference complements each one of them to make them stronger together. They will understand that without one of them they are weak. 

While going on the field to talk with the students, we will equally share with them online because we know that many students are online. The aim is to reach out to as many students as 1000. If many share, students will learn to be careful online. They will #ThinkB4TheyClick, the spread of hate speech will reduce and the rate of violence in our schools will reduce as well. This is to make students conscious and join the spreading love and mitigate hate in their classes and communities. That is why we urge you to defy hate NOW. 

Join the campaign of building hate free schools by using these hashtags on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc; 

#HateFreeSchools

#PenNotGun

#Youth4Peace

#Teens4Peace

#PeaceInMySchool

#NoToHateSpeech

Youths in Yaounde Share Perspectives on Civic Participation & Nation Building

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“YOUTH AND VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION IN THE MAJOR CHALLENGES OF CAMEROON” 

Civic Watch on February 10, 2022 had a talk with 20 youth based in Yaounde on the occasion of the Youth Day celebration in Cameroon. This year’s theme: “Youth & Voluntary Participation in the Major Challenges of Cameroon”, highlights youth’s involvement in development. Thus some youths drawn  from different works of life; journalists, teachers, bloggers, students, and civil society organisations were invited for the session. The aim was for them to talk about the difficulties the Cameroonian Youth is facing, the impact of their actions in their lives and society, and how to participate in the development and maintenance of peace…the peace of their community.  

The meeting started with a welcome speech from the president of the organisation Mr. Ngala Desmond who explained the mandate of Civic Watch; mobilisation of civic action, fighting online hate speech, violence, and violent extremism online and offline.  

The session, moderated by Kinang Derick,  started with a round of self introduction, as well as expectations by the participants. Delving into the first part of the programme, the topics; Youth Day celebration (Past and Present), expectations from Head of State’s speech, and 2022 youth day  theme: (Youth and voluntary participation) a way forward? 

The exchange went with the agreement that the youth day celebration of today is different from that of the past, the value has been lost because in the past people tried to understand what youth day was all about, but now, youths have different reasons for partaking. It was recognized that most Cameroonians do not know why youth day is celebrated. The Cameroon government did lay down the foundation of youth day. The idea of this day was a day of celebrating Cameroon’s history and handing it over to the younger generation. It was equally realised that the Anglophone crisis and CoronaVirus had contributed to the fall of the youth day celebration in Cameroon. As per the head of state’s message to the Youth, it was expected that president Paul Biya would create more job openings for youths, he would promote education by creating universities and Pavel-Aldo member of the Academic Campus Forum said he expected that the president made funds available for youth who have projects pending funding so that they could realise their dreams. Talking about the youth day theme, it was discussed that youths have become money-minded rather than wanting to gain knowledge and skills.  

 The second part of the discussion was about; Youth and civic participation, Youth and Peacebuilding/Peace process, and countering hate speech, violence in schools and communities. The youths recognized that they need to be an example in their immediate community to counter hate speech and violence. Participants agreed that there is a need for them to be self-disciplined, tolerant towards others, and sensitise other youth on ways and means they can contribute to nation building, in their own little way. Regarding ways to harness our differences to bring positive impact in the society, an example was the just ended  Africa Nations Cup #AFCON2021  hosted by Cameroon.  The football fiesta brought all Cameroonians together as one people, one nation and speaking with one voice;,  Participants stressed on excesses mostly displayed by social media users on different platforms, with the potential of spurring violence.. A typical example shared was the recurrent rise in [usually drug-induced] violence, witnessed in most secondary schools, believed to have been influenced by social media.Much work needed to be done to discipline students in school, which responsibility lies in the hands of . 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

 As for recommendations, the youths recommended that parents need to be sensitised to teach their kids at home moral education because the morals of the younger generation are degrading by the day. 

The youths need to work closely with kids, denounce some of the things happening in their environment, pen down the difficulties they face, and surmount courage to explain their problems in a peaceful way to government authorities.