This year marked the first-ever annual I Am Cameroon National Congress when supporters of met in Yaoundé this September 12, 2015.

This event provided a platform for supporters to exchange ideas, learn how to maximize their local impact and collaborate with other Local Committee members around Cameroon. Supporters from Cameroon also connected with supporters from the Diaspora some of whom were present for this historic event.

The National Committee of I am Cameroon organized a symposium bringing together like-minded organizations to discuss on the role the civil society could play in the fight against radical extremism.

Theme: ‘The role of the Civil Society in the fight against radical extremism’

 Featured Guest Speakers

1. Perrin KWENKEU, National President – Junior Chamber International – Cameroon – ‘How can Social groups/media fight against radical extremism?’

2. FOKAM, Representative – Conscius Generationem – ‘How can we by promoting moral values, ethics, citizenship, and hard work within the Cameroonian society limit Radicalism?’

3. Fabrice POKAM, Representative – La Dynamique Mondiale des Jeunes – ‘The fight against Radicalism in Action’

4. Keynote: Arrey OBENSON, Founder – I Am Cameroon – ‘How Citizens can fight against radical extremism’

Commitment:

All speakers and members of other associations representing the global Cameroonian civil society, after the symposium committed to the following;

Counseling and Education Role:

1. To promote the UN global counter terrorism strategy and the Government Security Agenda within their associations, social circles and within the communities they reach out to.
2. To build local support for counter-terrorism through education, entrancing government establishments to adopt a pragmatic response that respects human rights, supervising execution of counter-terrorism procedures, considering and broadcasting abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism, backing and support to sufferers, sponsoring the significance of harmony and safety, and providing capacity-building training to their members and the citizens within their sphere of influence.

Community Based Role.

1. To promote the voice of diverse social groups and causes, which endow with a channel of expression for the unimportant and encourage an atmosphere of patience and pluralism.
2. To play a key role in preventing stigmatization and providing information obtained from their various social circles on resolving conflicts at the national and regional levels.

Advocacy and Research Role.

1. To play a meaningful advocacy and research role. To condemn all acts of violence against civilians regardless of the motivation behind those acts. This can be done by writing open letters and statements to armed groups condemning terrorist tactics and maintaining a principled approach to the applicability of human rights standards, i.e. that these standards apply to both perpetrators and victims of violence.
2. To reduce the emotional and psychological impact of terrorism and engage in activities that aim to amplify the voices of the victims of terrorism and of persons affected by unlawful counter-terrorism operations.
3. To engage with the media to shape the public discourse around “terrorism”. This will be done by establishing a constructive relationship with the media and the entertainment industry in order to provide reliable information, challenge negative or unbalanced portrayals of parts of the community, pictures of victims and initiate public debate on issues of public security and human rights.
4. To encourage debate within the media profession on the image that is conveyed of minority groups in connection with the fight against terrorism and to alert them of their responsibility to avoid perpetuating prejudices, stereotypes, or inaccurate and/or incomplete information.
5. To organize high value studies and publish data obtained during field visits and discussions with victims and security forces working to overcome radical extremism.

 Legal Role.

1. To find ways to partner governments, regional and sub-regional organizations to support all legal efforts aimed at overcoming radical extremism be they International, national and local.

The afore mentioned panelists on behalf of their associations as well as other associations present at the symposium all committed to implement these recommendations.