Peace actors participate in Field Guide Sprint
Article by Salma Amadore
The trainers of the #defyhatenow project and about fifteen young people from associations working on a daily basis for the promotion of peace and the elimination of hate speech met from 24th to 25th November in Yaounde. Mboa Lab located at Simbockwas the host of the Field Guide Sprint. Mr. Stephen Kovats and Ms. Kendi Gikunda from #defyhatenow were able to work with these actors from various backgrounds: web journalists, influencers, bloggers and youth association representatives. Global Initiative for Digital Inclusion and Communication, Johnson Ebigwe Production, Jongo Hub, Winners SDGs, Mboa Lab, Accord Parfait, and Local Youth Corner were some of the attendees.
During the two days, they reviewed their activities since April 2019; had a presentation of the elements of the Field Guide Sprint; definition of the themes; structure and the contents of the communication tools; sharing of experience with actions in South Sudan and a film projection related to the theme of hate speech and fake news in South Sudan.
The aim of this activity was to contextualize and gather the information that goes into version 2.0 of the field guide for Cameroon. It will bring into perspective a revision of the first English edition adding contextual Cameroonian scenarios and a French translation.
The program also included an introduction to #Action4Peace, a fellowship initiative aimed at impacting youth who will collaborate with #defyhatenow as peace mobilizers to carry out hate and violence incitement mitigation activities in their local community. As the project was now in Cameroon, there was a need to contextualize the #defyhatenow project to the realities in the country. The participants made proposals on the content and form of the content that will fit Cameroon. Subsequently, they proposed a series of hashtags in French and English to be used in various activities they will lead in the next three months. To help them achieve this goal, they received small grants to amplify and intensify their actions and prioritize peace for the stability of Cameroon.
