In setting the agenda of public discourse by raising awareness on the issues of hate speech, responsible social media use and conflict reduction, Civic Watch believes in the key role young people play in community peace building in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. These ills are obstacles to social cohesion and peace in Cameroon. Re-assessing the impact and engagement of youths to the present social dynamics to propose solutions is key in these regions.

The #defyhatenow initiative in Cameroon acknowledges the need to engage in preventive mechanisms against hate speech and incitement to violence both online and offline. Hence, these trainings (in-person) shall host 30 youth leaders who live in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon to discuss the rise of this scourge and its negative impact on social cohesion and community development in these conflict hit regions. The trainings shall be under the theme 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. This activity is in line with the objectives of #defyhatenow which seeks to combat online and offline hate speech and incitement to violence, by prioritizing early warning and early action while building on preventive approaches to community peace building for social cohesion in Cameroon.