Maat Association begins implementing community initiatives to counter hate speech

Okeil: We support youth initiatives to contribute to changing society and confronting religious extremism

Monica Mina: Community initiatives encourage young people and develop their leadership skills

 

Within the framework of the “Peacebuilders in Egypt to Combat Hate Speech in the Name of Religion” project, Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association supports a number of youth initiatives concerned with interfaith dialogue and combating hate speech in the name of religion. The Association has previously raised the awareness of 150 male and female students from different universities nationwide about the concept of hate speech and the difference between it and freedom of opinion and discussed the United Nations strategy to combat hate speech with stakeholders through a series of training workshops. These workshops were keen to build the capacities of these young people to design and prepare initiatives, the motivation for change, and the simplicity behind successful initiatives, with the participation of a number of experts and policymakers.

At this stage of the Peacebuilders in Egypt project, youth initiatives will be supported in the governorates of Cairo and Alexandria, as they aim to work to address negative stereotypes that reinforce hate speech in the name of religion, activate interfaith dialogue and youth in peace-building processes, and achieve the sixteenth goal of the sustainable development goals. In line with the national efforts made in this regard, and to activate the partnership of civil society organizations at the national level during 2022.

In this context, jurist Ayman Okeil, head of Maat Association, said that religious extremism and the spread of a culture of intolerance and hate speech negatively affect the cohesion of Egyptian society, and the real problem lies in the absence of religious awareness and the lack of tolerance in society, indicating that the biggest challenge in confronting the discourses of extremism and terrorism is to work on Changing the intellectual environment and spreading awareness of religious visions that respect the values of peaceful coexistence, and this is what we will work to achieve.

Okeil also stressed the support for the role of youth in developing and building societies, and that Maat Association during the coming period will be keen to support and implement community campaigns and initiatives, which in turn will work to activate the participation of a larger number of young people, and give them opportunities to contribute and plan to spread a culture of awareness against extremism in a deeper way, with Creating a balanced relationship between the components of society based on mutual acceptance and respect.

For her part, Monica Mina, Director of the Projects Unit at Maat Association, said that after the completion of the first phase of the project, the Association continued to follow up with the participating youth on how to implement the best-proposed initiatives to confront hate speech and the phenomenon of extremism and terrorism in Egyptian society, taking into account the diversity among the learned segments, which will also include children.

Mina added that the Association, through these initiatives, works to encourage young people to identify their interests and activities and develop their leadership skills while acquiring practical experiences so that they can make positive changes in society.

It is worth noting that the implementation of community initiatives takes place within the framework of cooperation between Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association and The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID Center for Global Dialogue), based on their efforts to build local and international peace and address phenomena dangerous to society to promote dialogue and exchange of cultures in order to activate the goals of tolerance and acceptance of the other.