Human Rights Defenders Network in Central Africa ( REDHAC) : Improved awareness-raising practices through the involvement of young people

This is specefic objective of the project organised in Douala-Bali on 19-20 december 2023.

25 young people (15 girls and 10 boys) receive full training in mediation using Traditional tools ; The trainers pass on the appropriate mediation tools to the 25 young people (girls and boys) ; The mediators are able to lead inter-community dialogues and peace clubs and solemnly undertake to do so.

These are expected results of the project : « THE COMMITMENT OF GIRLS AND WOMEN TO LASTING PEACE AND NATIONAL RECONCILIATION IN CENTRAL AFRICA: OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY » PHASE II.

Activity begins today and will finish tomorrow, Wednesday in Douala. An Idea of Human Rights Defenders Network in Central Africa ( REDHAC).

The mediation training of young girls in the use of traditional tools as a means of resolving community conflicts and promoting social cohesion through inter-community dialogues and the setting up of peace clubs during phase I of the project entitled ” The commitment of girls and women to lasting peace and national reconciliation in Central Africa: our collective responsibility! “. After holding 08 dialogues and setting up 17 peace clubs in the CAR and Cameroon, the project generated a great deal of interest among communities, administrative, religious and traditional authorities, and young girls and women. A formal request was made to REDHAC and its beneficiary organisations to increase the number of training courses for mediators, including young boys, given the high risks of community dislocation, in order to get them more involved in conflict resolution within communities, social cohesion, peace and national reconciliation in Central Africa. These risks are more acute today in Cameroon and Chad, and slightly less so in CAR.

In response to this increased demand from the above-mentioned actors, REDHAC and its beneficiary associations have proposed mediation training in Cameroon and Chad to World Affairs Canada for phase II of the project, this time including young men in the process. This is in line with resolutions 2250, 2419 and 2535 on the integration of young people in peace processes, 1325 on women, peace and security of the United Nations and the Maputo Protocol of the African Union.

Linda Mbiapa