This initiative seeks to  provide a safe space and build the capacity of students in Cameroon’s political capital; Yaoundé  to sensitise their peers and reflect on innovative ways to lead response to hate speech and hate crimes within secondary school milieus through storytelling and creative writing and community engagement.  This initiative will take the form of an intra-urban storytelling, debate. essay competition as well as capacity building for students in secondary and high schools from within the capital city of Cameroon, Yaoundé. The young champions and beneficiaries of the initiative shall be crowned spread love ambassadors to lead campaigns within their communities.

Theory of Change: If students from schools in the nation’s capital Yaoundé are mobilised and engaged in fostering innovative ideas in mitigating hate and hate speech through essay competitions, and if these students are provided the needed capacity and mentorship to lead advocacy against Hate speech in schools then more people will restrain from hate speech because they will gain awareness on the dangers of hate and hate speech and make efforts towards promoting peace and social cohesion as a way of life.

Objective 1: The goal of this project is to promote a culture of peace and social cohesion among communities in Cameroon by raising awareness on the ills and consequences of hate and hate speech in the country though youths and students.

Specific Objectives

• Mobilise and engage students in Hate speech mitigation discourse
• Sensitize populations on the ills of hate speech through essay and debates.
• Collect perceptions and innovative ideas in mitigating hate speech in Cameroon through essay competitions and debates.
• Enhance the capacities of students in leading advocacy against hate speech
• Create a  student coalition against hate speech in Cameroon

Activities.

• An essay competitions across 8 schools in Yaoundé, Cameroon
• 1-day capacity building workshop for laureates of the essay competitions and build their capacity on identifying and reporting hate speech online as well as preventing/countering hate speech online and offline
• Open debates among students in Yaoundé, Cameroon
• Mass media sensitization in mitigating hate speech in communities
• Documenting and publishing best essays