Vacancy: Project Associate – Cameroon

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#defyhatenow Project Associate  – Cameroon 

Read French version here

#defyhatenow is an initiative that works on providing community based and data-driven solutions to the problem of hate speech, disinformation and misinformation in South Sudan and now in numerous locations in Africa. Our work focuses on creating a framework for increasing trust between stakeholders through mobilizing civic action against all forms of hate speech and incitement to violence. 

#defyhatenow seeks to support the voices acting against online induced conflict to go ‘viral’ within and outside affected regions by bringing youth, community leaders, grassroot organizations and further civil society stakeholders into a peace oriented media and information literacy framework. Bridging gaps of knowledge and awareness of social media mechanisms between those with access to technology and those without, #defyhatenow is a growing network of online and offline peacebuilders.

In partnership with r0g_agency for open culture & critical transformation gGmbH and UNESCO – Central Africa Directorate, the newly formed #defyhatenow CBO based in Juba, South Sudan has been working in an effort to have a conversation on the dangers of hate speech online and offline, it’s effects and how to mitigate it. Earlier in 2019 we held a Workshop on Prevention of Violent Extremism Online and Offline hosted by UNESCO in Douala, Cameroon. The workshop took place within the context of a conflict induced breakdown in communal cohesion in many regions of Cameroon that has taken place at a time of increasing socialization embedded in information and communication. The security context and the atmosphere of the 2018 presidential elections on the one hand, and the parliamentary, municipal and regional elections, on the other hand, have been marked by an increasing expansion of ethnic polarization, hate speech, radicalization and extremism occurring both offline and online. Online hate speech, propaganda, incitement to violence, and threats are posted and shared by key players (influencers) amongst social media groups and on timelines. The tone of rhetoric, reflected in both traditional broadcast and print media, and more recently – with increasing aggressivity – across social media platforms has exacerbated peacebuilding and attempts at inter-communal harmony.  

Through a grant provided by the German Federal Foreign Office, this peacebuilding collaboration is being enabled to keep the conversations going, develop resources and support local activist peace oriented media-based activities. We’re currently looking to fill the role of Project Associate to be based in Yaounde and/or Douala  Cameroon where we are starting an exciting project on Mobilizing Civic Action to Counter Violent Extremism Online and Offline.

Requisite skills

To succeed in this role, you should:

  • Have excellent time management and communication skills, as you’ll collaborate with clients and internal teams to deliver results on deadlines. 
  • You will also need to be self driven and diligent in your roles
  • Be fluent in both English and French (written and spoken)
  • Have at least 3 years working experience in a context related to the job

As the Project Associate you will work closely with our team “remotely and on the ground” to prepare comprehensive action plans, on implementation of the project. You will perform various coordinating tasks, like schedule and risk management, along with administrative duties, like maintaining project documentation and handling financial queries. Ultimately, the Project Associate’s duties are to ensure that the project runs smoothly and meets high quality standards.

Main Roles and Responsibilities

  • Coordinate the training of youth, community  leaders, social media influencers and government agencies  on hate speech mitigation and social  media literacy and strategic peacebuilding actions 
  • Conduct research on conflict analysis in Cameroon and the impact of social media with regards to hate speech, misinformation and incitement to violence. 
  • Provide bi-monthly policy briefings and insights to stakeholders on the health and impact of digital-media in the country
  • Translate materials from English to French and vice versa 
  • Develop and utilize technology driven systems for analyzing hate speech, online incitement to violence and influencer activity to generate empirical evidence that can be used for decision making and problem solving.
  • Lead on design and development of campaign aimed at deradicalization and hate speech reduction in the community, ensuring wide participation of project stakeholders within the wider movement and identification and partnership working with key external stakeholders.
  • Manage #defyhatenow’s digital media presence in french , which includes, but not limited to, #defyhatenow’swebsite, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube accounts. 
  • Communicate with various stakeholders in and outside Cameroon to gather data and information related to public perceptions and understanding of hate speech, fake news, and misinformation. 
  • Monitor online reactions to  #defyhatenow content and generate weekly statistics from all Social Media platforms
  • Perform any other tasks that might be assigned in relation to the work scope of Project Coordinator. 

This is a time-limited task-oriented engagement, funded as a pilot project until February 28, 2020, with a potential extension dependent on further funding possibilities. If you are the person we are looking for please send us your Curriculum Vitae/Resume, Cover Letter and fee expectation to [email protected] by 20th October 2019