A representative of the Bangladeshi NGO Youth Association for Development (YAD), and two staff members of the African Coordination of Human Rights for the Armed Forces (CADHA) – both organizations GAAMAC partners – have been selected to participate in a training on how to center youth voices in atrocity prevention. The training is led by the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation (GITR), a program of the International Coalitions of Sites of Conscience, with is also a member of the GAAMAC network.
The GIJTR states that its work in conflict and post-conflict countries “has consistently demonstrated that youth and youth-led organizations are positioned to play a crucial role in atrocity prevention efforts”. It therefore issued a call to activist under 35 years old making a difference in their countries.
Group sessions and individual community projects
The selected 10 participants will attend two virtual trainings. The first one, held online, will cover foundational knowledge to understand atrocity prevention through a transitional justice framework and common early warning signs that often precede mass human rights violations; mental health and psychosocial support for activists entering in this space; and dialogue sessions.
The second training will be held in person in Bali, Indonesia. This training will expand on the first training as well as include sessions on digital security techniques for human rights defenders; peer mentoring; developing participant’s community projects and discuss the development of a virtual platform that will be populated with content created by participants.
After that, each participant will be allocated an envelope to design and implement their community project by October 2022. In one final meeting in November, participants will share successes, challenges and lessons learned from the small projects as well as to create new and innovative knowledge products.
We wish all participants the best of luck and look forward to the projects developed by our partners YAD and CADHA!
