Mobilising Youth Leaders to Counter HateSpeech and Conflict in Crisis Zones

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.