Youth Click for Peace (2020-2021)

Objective: To induce a change of attitude and practices among young people using social media to shift from disseminating hate-promoting and violence-fuelling information and messages on the ongoing Anglophone Separatist War to delivering content that promotes tolerance and peace.

Partner: Le Centre de Crise et de Soutien (CDCS) du Ministere de l'Europe et des Affaires Etrangeres via the French Embassy in Yaounde, (Cameroon).

Work realized:

• Trained 200 young Internally Displaced Young Anglophones on Information Literacy and Peace Messaging on Social Media.
• Trained 36 radio, print, and online journalists were trained on peace reporting.
• Published and distributed two handbooks: Peace Messaging Guide for IDPs in Cameroon, and Peace Reporting Made Simple to trainees and shared online.
• Organized an essay, poetry, and song competition for 280 secondary school students and 1040 textbooks were distributed to prize winners.

Impact spotlight

Birth of Ubuntu Youth Movement (Ubuntu Youth)

After participating in a series of training seminars on Information Literacy and Peace Messaging, 102 out of 200 young IDP trainees decided on their own to form a network as a means of popularizing the values of the Ubuntu philosophy: I am who I am because of who we all are, as part of their contribution to peacebuilding in the country.

Development of greater sensitivity to conflict reporting.

Njoya Denis, of Noun Community Radio in Foumban: You know the population of Foumban is sharply divided politically between militants of the opposition CDU party and the ruling CPDM. Tensions are always high. The slightest provocation can trigger terrible violence. It has happened in the past. I am now quite sensitive to this reality, and I am absolutely careful when reporting now.

Agborem Solomon, Limbe-based journalist of the Voice Newspaper: Honestly the training {on peace-reporting} has been damn useful. I am quite careful with crafting front-page headlines. I feel bad and really disturbed when I still see provocative captions that can spark violence from other colleagues you know.

Greater mastery in the management of anger and hate speech on the radio.

Kemgang Appolinaire, journalist, Radio des Montagnes, Mbouda: During debates on air, some panelists just become terrible. Some say dangerous things, very dangerous to peace. They are violent, they insult and use hate language. I now know how to manage such studio incidents in a way that does not hurt anyone, especially our listeners.