End-of-Year event 2018 #HateFreeSouthSudan
Juba, 27th November 2018 – We cordially invite you to attend the #defyhatenow end-of-your-events in Juba and various locations in Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Egypt to celebrate the achievements made in social media hate speech mitigation since 2014.
[Download the official press release End-of-Year Event 2018]
Over the past four years #defyhatenow and its partners has strengthened the voices of civil society actors and helped building capacities to mitigate hate speech amongst South Sudanese civil society organisations. The project pursues and encourages collaboration with local civil society actors including diaspora groups, international organisations such as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Uganda and UNMISS in South Sudan and started creating a network and an agenda against hate speech.
As the project comes to an end, the #defyhatenow initiative is preparing a comprehensive public project review to present and celebrate the impact of the work that has been done with communities across South Sudan, as well as refugee and exile groups in Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and the wider online diaspora.
10th December 2018, 9:30am to 1:30pm
Venue: Landmark Hotel, Juba, South Sudan [by invitation only]
Hate Speech Policy briefing with foreign missions, UN agencies and like-minded NGOs in South Sudan.
Inviting organisations: The South Sudan Center for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS) in collaboration with the #defyhatenow Initiative
A four-hour discussion with South Sudanese policy makers, religious leaders and directors of institutions. We will be focusing on hate speech, its roots causes, societal impacts and ways to mitigate it.
Experts from #defyhatenow and South Sudan Center for Strategic and Policy Studies will provide contextual information on hate speech mitigation efforts in South Sudan and lessons learned in the past four years. This will also include recommendations on specific actions and reforms based on the work of #defyhatenow and other actors who worked on the issue in South Sudan and the neighboring countries.
11th December 2018 – #HateFreeSouthSudan End-of-Year Event
Venue: Logali House, Juba, South Sudan [from 2pm open to the public]
#defyhatenow reflections and lessons from 4 years of work with team members and project partners.
Morning session: 9:00am to 2:30am, indoors – [by invitation only]
Presentations, group discussions and Q&A session with #defyhatenow regional and local partners.
The panel discussion will focus on highlighting the challenges of hate speech mitigation in South Sudan and find ways for the partner organizations to allocate more resource and attention to hate speech mitigation and reducing misinformation and incitement to violence.
The #defyhatenow regional teams from Kenya, Sudan and Uganda will provide contextual information on hate speech mitigation efforts among different communities and lessons learned in the past four years. This will include sharing of case studies and a discussion on best practices to be adopted by organizations working to create peace, building trust and bridge the societal and political divisions in South Sudan.
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11th December 2018, 2pm to 7pm
Venue: Logali House, Juba, South Sudan
Afternoon session: #HateFreeSouthSudan End-of-Year Event and Concert, outdoors
Panel discussion, DEFY – the film screening, project material exhibitions and discussions.
During the public event we will be showcasing photographs, #defyhatenow video clips and campaigns we have developed throughout the project, presented in interctive sessions at themed booths spread across the yard of Logali House.
The outdoor activities will be complemented by a three-hours concert themed #HateFreeSouthSudan with the project songs #Kifaya and #ThinkB4UClick.
Additional performances will include dance, songs and poetry.
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13th to 19th December 2018 – Regional events in South Sudan, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya
Our regional #defyhatenow project team members are conduction local events commemorating the end-of-year event in Juba.
For details please check updates on our website at www.defyhatenow.net – on our social media channels and contact Mr Nelson J. Kwaje at njk@defyhatenow.net.
27th November to 20th December, 2018 – Online Campaign
The online campaign will focus on #defyhatenow reflections and lessons from the four years of work. We will publish selected content from the past years plus interviews with team members and other partners.
Campaign hashtags: #defyhatenow #HateFreeSouthSudan #ThinkB4UClick
About #defyhatenow
#defyhatenow is a project implemented in South Sudan in conjunction with regional partners who are based in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Sudan. Supported by the zivik programme of ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations) with means from the German Federal Foreign Office and managed by the Berlin-based r0g_agency for open culture and critical transformation, #defyhatenow is an urgent community peace-building initiative aimed at combating online hate speech and mitigating incitement to offline violence in South Sudan.
Initiated in 2014 in response to the South Sudan political and civil crisis, the project #defyhatenow was designed to develop counter strategies in collaboration with local civil society organizations. Founded as a community peace building, training and conflict reconciliation effort, the project intended to strengthen the voices and actions of youth-oriented civil society organizations while including South Sudanese diaspora communities in online and offline community building efforts.
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About Youth4Youth Initiative
Youth for Youth Initiative is a vibrant, indigenous South Sudanese, rights-based and non-partisan organization that is committed to empowerment and seeks to transform the lives of South Sudanese youth through advocacy, outreach and engagement.