Experts and representatives of Member States of the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa (UNSAC) have reached another milestone in the process of “ownership, political endorsement and adoption of a regional Strategy and action plan to address and counter speech and incitement to violence” in their sub-region. At the end of a dedicated Forum, which ended in Yaoundé on Friday, 7 July 2023, after three days of work, they made the suggestion in a "Declaration." The latter congratulates Cameroon for its commitment to this cause, and encourages the Member State to pursue it "by expediting, in conjunction with the ECCAS [Economic Community of Central African States] Commission, all the steps leading to its final adoption by the authorized bodies" of the sub-regional organization.

In this perspective, the participants considered that the Regional Forum of Ministers of Communication and Information of Central Africa, proposed by the Central African Minister of Communication and Media during the Bangui Forum in April 2022, and supported by the Member States of UNSAC, "remains one of the frameworks recommended for the pre-validation of the regional Strategy and action plan." In addition, they invited the delegation of the Central African Republic to work in synergy with Cameroon and the ECCAS Commission as well as other key partners, including the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), to facilitate the holding of the said Forum, preferably before the 56^th UNSAC meeting scheduled to be held in Kigali in November 2023. In this regard, and given the issues at stake, they considered it "necessary to organize an information-gathering, evaluation and support mission to Bangui in order to discuss the matter with the competent authorities."

This approach is in line with the will expressed by the CAR. In her speech, Boda Amanda Grace, official representative in charge of this project at the Prime Minister's Office, noted that her country "reaffirms its commitment [...] to host [the Regional Forum of Ministers of Communication and Information of Central Africa] in the very near future." Closing the proceedings, the Director of the United Nations and Decentralized Cooperation at the Ministry of External Relations, Ebenezer Mouandjo Mouandjo, representing the Minister, promised that the Cameroonian Government will maintain regular contact and will collaborate with the Central African authorities to guarantee the success of this important stage of the process, as well as those that ECCAS will guide.

The "Yaoundé Declaration" calls on the ECCAS Commission, the United Nations and all other organizations concerned to support the initiative, counting "particularly on UNOCA to coordinate the support and participation of the United Nations, in conjunction with MINUSCA." The Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security at the ECCAS Commission, Mangaral Bante, highlighted that measures will be taken in this regard. He also wished to reaffirm the Commission's commitment to sensitize all stakeholders with a view of the adoption, as soon as possible, of the draft regional Strategy and action plan to address and counter hate speech and incitement to violence.

The Yaoundé Forum brought together representatives of Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, and Chad. The event was organized by Cameroon, in accordance with the mandate entrusted to it by UNSAC, with support of the ECCAS Commission and UNOCA. Several other entities of the United Nations system have actively contributed to its implementation, including the UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa, the United Nations Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa, the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).