• Between January and February, UNESCO, a GAAMAC Informal Alliance, organized two online workshops for 88 participants. The first workshop presented the UNESCO policy brief on “Strengthening Genocide Prevention through Education in Africa” to education ministries and civil society. The second workshop, focused on pedagogical approaches to prevent atrocity crimes.

• In March, CADHA, a GAAMAC partner in Côte d’Ivoire, implemented a series of events to increase understanding and support of atrocity prevention within the armed and security forces and the media. Read more about the activities in the Côte d’Ivoire page.

• In April, a meeting between the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and the Africa and the Asia Pacific Working Groups of GAAMAC was held online to exchange ideas and address concerns ahead of the 2024 R2P Report. 

• In November, The Ghana National Peace Council, a GAAMAC Steering Group member, trained 42 participants in conflict resolution to promote peaceful elections in Ghana by addressing violence throughout the electoral process.

In 2023 the Africa Working Group organized numerous awareness raising events on atrocity prevention. The activities culminated in the First Regional Forum of the Africa Working Group in Abidjan. 

• On 19 January 2023, GAAMAC supported a training by the Network of NGOs promoting and defending human rights in the Central African Republic. Around 30 attendees were sensitized to hate speech and incitement to violence. Their backgrounds varied from civil society to media and the political sphere.
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• On 27 February 2023, Mr. Bakari Diaby, General Coordinator of the African Coordination of Human Rights for the Armed Forces (CADHA), a GAAMAC partner, was invited by another GAAMAC partner, the Center for International Human Rights at John Jay College (CIHR), to present CADHA’s work in Côte d’Ivoire towards increasing the understanding and respect of international law by the armed and security forces.
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• Between March and July 2023, GAAMAC supported the organization of activities to raise awareness on hate speech and prevent mass atrocities in North Kivu, DRC. You will find information and multimedia content on this page about each activity.

• On 21 April 2023, the Platform for Social Justice implemented the first Africa Working Group training on mass atrocity prevention for refugees and district leaders from Congo and South Sudan living in a refugee camp in Northern Uganda.
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• On 27 July 2023, the Network of NGOs promoting and defending human rights in CAR presented a follow-up report and recommendations to counter hate speech and incitement to violence in the Central African Republic. The event gathered political and judicial authorities, human rights NGO leaders, and local media.
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• From 13 – 14 September 2023, GAAMAC and CADHA organized the First Regional Forum of the Africa Working Group in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The Forum brought together experts from the government, members of the Assembly and Senate, as well as members of the armed and security forces and civil society who participated virtually and in person.
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• Throughout 2023, the Africa Working Group supported the launch of the UNESCO and UN teachers’ guide on genocide education in Africa and contributed to its dissemination.
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In total, 367 people participated to the Africa Working Group’s activities.
40% women / 60% men
62% CSO / 32% States / 6% International and Regional Organizations

The Africa Working Group led a wide array of events to raise awareness of and support of atrocity prevention. Its 2021 Training toolkit was instrumental to several of these events. Activities were held for the first time in 3 countries.

• On 10-11 March 2022, the Chair of the Africa Working Group, Justice Jamila Mohammed, participated to the Great Lakes Regional Conference on Addressing Hate Speech and Preventing Incitement to Violence. The Conference was organized by the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

• On 31 May, ahead of the Kenyan presidential elections, a training on atrocity prevention and early warning mechanisms was held in Nairobi. 23 government and civil society workers, all with a mandate on the electoral management, took part. Electoral periods can increase the risk of atrocities commission and Kenya has, in the past, experienced pre- and post-electoral violence. The Training Toolkit on mass atrocity prevention, developed in 2021, served as a base for the training.
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• On 7-8 June, the African Coordination of Human Rights for the Armed Forces (CADHA) led a training in Côte d’Ivoire. 17 people from CADHA’s pool of trainers (from civil society, police forces and the military) were familiarized with the 2021 Training Toolkit. The goal was to give participants tools to conduct their own trainings based on the Toolkit in the future, or incorporate the Toolkit in their standard trainings.
  Read press article (In French only)

• On 12-14 July, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre and the National Peace Council of Ghana trained 27 government and civil society agents in Ghana. The training strengthened effective understanding of the concepts, processes and tools of atrocity prevention, and shared the lessons learned for the promotion of national mechanisms in Ghana. It was the first time the Africa Working Group led activities in Ghana.
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• On 5 and 8 December, the African Coordination of Human Rights (CADHA) held a series of awareness-raising events in Côte d’Ivoire: a session before the National Assembly and meetings with civil servants of various ministries. GAAMAC was showcased as an example of good practice in engaging and supporting national efforts of atrocity prevention.
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• On 5-6 and 8-9 December, Blessed Aid and La Coalition des Volontaires pour la Paix et le Développement organized two workshops on anti-hate speech in the province of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In total, 50 civil society activists were trained. As a result of these trainings, five groups, made up of seven community leaders each, will be formed to fight hate speech in the Masisi territory and in the city of Goma.

• On 5-6 and 8-9 December, Blessed Aid and La Coalition des Volontaires pour la Paix et le Développement organized two workshops on anti-hate speech in the province of North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In total, 50 civil society activists were trained. As a result of these trainings, five groups, made up of seven community leaders each, will be formed to fight hate speech in the Masisi territory and in the city of Goma.

In total, 211 people participated to the Africa Working Group’s activities.
30% women / 70% men
53% CSO / 47% States

• A two-day workshop was organized in Yamoussoukro by The African Coordination of Human Rights for the Armed Forces (CADHA) with the support of the Raphael Lemkin Center for Africa (CERLA) and the support of GAAMAC in March 2021 where 60 officers of the armed forces of Ivory Coast have been sensitized to the prevention of mass atrocities.

• A second workshop took place in Yamoussoukro in June 2021 and sensitized 20 newly elected Members of Parliament and Senators on best practices for the establishment and management of national mechanisms for genocide and mass atrocities prevention. The workshop was led by members of the armed forces, civil society, and international experts such as a member of the Kenya National Committee on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity (KNC). During the training, the KNC has shared its draft bill on the prevention of genocide as a good example of how to strengthen the national capacity to prevent atrocities.

• A Training Toolkit on Establishing and Managing National Mechanisms for Mass Atrocity Prevention was published in November 2021. It fleshes out, step by step, a learning plan for actors who wish to create or consolidate domestic national prevention mechanisms.

• As part of GAAMAC’s informal alliance with UNESCO, AWG members served as members of the UN/UNESCO Advisory Group on genocide education in Africa to conduct a peer review of the first draft of the teachers’ guide on genocide education in Africa.