Countering Hate Speech and Violent Extremism : Youth Leaders Given Skills, Resources

Civic Watch has set out to reverse the disturbing trend of misinformation, fake news and hate speech online. To achieve this, it has trained 30 youth leaders drawn different backgrounds from all the 13 administrative Divisions of the North West and South West Regions. For two days running in Limbe beginning November 2, 2023, they were trained in peace building at community level, conflict tree and conflict analysis; nonviolence communication in community mediation in the North West and South West Regions; capacity building for advocacy, mediation and negotiation; community action for peace and social cohesion and the role of youth in community advocacy. They equally received lessons on how to challenge hate speech, social media and violence extremism on and online then build peace among others.
Ngala Desmond told the press that they trained youth leaders to become wavers of peace. “We gave them tools on how to mitigate hate and reduce violence, build resilience in communities and promote peace building and community actions. They will also engage in the responsible use of the social media. We gave them resources which they will use to push and promote peace in their different communities,” he said. He urged all those who are manipulating community me...