Leadership and Peacebuilding, Preventing/Countering radicalization & Violent Extremism

a. Enhancing Community Peacebuilding Through Trauma Healing, And Economic Empowerment, And Prevention Of Gender-Based Violence. 

This project trains psychosocial counsellors and community leaders to enhance community response to preventing GBV especially around reporting and follow up. Through this project, we also train Internally Displaced persons gain skills in selected income generating including training on the fundamentals of starting and running a business. We also provide basic start up materials to enable them continue to put skills gained into practice both for income generation and sustainable livelihoods. 

Through this initiative, a minimum of 40 000 persons across 5 regions of Cameroon have gained increase knowledge about gender-based violence reporting and mitigation through a radio drama series and a minimum of 300 survivors of sexual and GBV have received psychosocial counselling from 100 newly trained psychosocial counsellors.

b. Creative arts for girl’s empowerment.

Through this initiative, we have trained 300 students, parents and teachers (as peer educators, teachers and community counsellors) on response to and prevention of school related gender-based violence. We also use creative arts music, drama, poetry and spoken word to raise awareness on school related GBV, its prevention and importance of girls education. See one of our theatre performance - of girls abused below.

c. Enhancing multicultural dialogue for Peace and security in Cameroon.

We engage community leaders, youth leaders, religious groups, cultural organisations and different stakeholders as a way to promote tolerance, understanding and dialogue across cultures and generations to promote peace. 

Through this initiative, we engaged over 150 youth, civil society and religious leaders and government representatives from all over the national territory in the first ever national forum on youth, women peace and security. Through this, we engaged youth and women in meaningful dialogue on their roles in building lasting peace in Cameroon. This ended in the development of a peace declaration that is being presented to the concerned authorities - https://cm.usembassy.gov/dcmsmith-honors-alumni-workshop-security/

d. The One Cameroon Initiative

Uses debates, spoken word, poetry and the unifying power of music to reach thousands of Cameroonians – spreading the message of tolerance and specifically religious tolerance.

e. Countering radicalisation and violent extremism

HOFNA Cameroon has worked with over 18 civil society organisations from Subsaharan Africa in a UNDP workshop organised in partnership with Albany Associates (in Uganda and Ghana) to develop effective communication strategies and interventions to alter the impact of prevalent narratives encouraging violent extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa.

As a part of this, HOFNA has contributed to the development of the content of a mobile to guide CSOs in planning and running more sustainable and effective Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism campaigns and spreading counter-narratives and is working with CSOs in Cameroon and other related stakeholders and engaging them in using this app to prevent and counter radicalisation and violent extremism in Cameroon (Read about the App here - UNDP launches mobile application to help design campaigns to prevent violent extremism | United Nations Development Programme