PEACE BUILDING: YOP EMPOWERS YOUTHS LEADERS WITH DIGITAL ADVOCACY TOOLS.

Youth leaders in groups receiving skills 

Some 45 youths from North West, South West and West Regions of Cameroon have sharpened their skills in peace building during a workshop in Bafoussam.

In a training organized by Youth Outreach Programme, YOP with funds from CENTRE DE CRISE ET DE SOUTIEN dubbed "Strengthening the capacity of young peace builders", the youth leaders were provided with techniques and technical resources to emerge as peace advocates in their respective communities.  

A cross section of the participants 

For two days, participants acquired practical lessons on creating, editing and sharing short videos via social media to foster peace building. 

A training in peace building for young people is a timely one which can silence the guns and guarantee sustainable peace.

Using their mobile phones these young people have committed to telling stories and engage in conversations on social media which would contribute to efforts at restoring peace in the peace-hungry country, Cameroon.

Projection of some of the contents produced at the workshop 

On the flip side, digital divides between social groups and countries produce a new kind of inequality among  youths Deployment of multiple social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for hateful ideologies and recruitment purposes cause tremendous damage to young minds,online peer pressure and hate propaganda through social networks.

It is on this ground that Barrister Olivia one of the facilitators took out time to teach the youths on some National laws, offences and punishments for social media misuse.

Full session on National laws on cyber crimes 

Youth Out Reach Program ( YOP)'s vision is to empower young people with skills needed to make informed decisions thus  creating a better society where they can are healthy, uresponsible and actively involved in the development process.

Delegation from the French Embassy

The workshop was graced by the presence of a team from the French Embassy in Yaounde who also  had exchange with the youths while calling on them to be critical thinkers , identify positive role models, and manage conflicts in a non-violence manner. 

Participant recieving certificate of participation 

One of the participants, Gabriel Sevizem Nfon from Ndu in the North West Region representing Nurture Africa foundations, says he has learned skills on how to used his phone to produce contents that can be use for advocacy online and has equally learned how to use Twitter. Just like Gabriel other participants left ready to implement what they've gathered from the two days workshop.

By Samuel Atigi.

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