Youth to commemorate victims of gun violence ahead of AU summit

Jan 28, 2020

"Nearly half a million people lost their lives in organised violence in Africa between 2015 and 2018," says Marie Wilke, the director of Africa Practice.

GUN VIOLENCE

A group of African youths are working towards producing the world's longest Twitter monument ahead of the African Union Heads of State Summit in February this year.

They are doing this in memory of victims of gun violence.

The African Union designated the year 2020 to commemorate the many lives lost in organised violence in Africa, hence the theme Silencing the Guns.          

The campaign, scheduled to run on social media platform Twitter, will happen on Wednesday.

"Nearly half a million people lost their lives in organised violence in Africa between 2015 and 2018. That was 274 every day or one in every five minutes. These are only official records," said Marie Wilke, the director of Africa Practice, a strategic advisory firm.

The firm provides insights and advocacy solutions to corporations, investors, governments and foundations in Africa, in a bid to achieve sustainable and equitable development.

"We want to start the year by remembering the thousands that have lost their lives, highlighting the randomness of conflict and violence and mobilizing everyone to make peace their business," Wilke added.

The hashtag NamesNotNumbers was created to sensitise and mobilise citizen groups, particularly youths, to join the AU in its Silencing the Guns effort.

"We want to open up spaces for Africa's youth and communities to express themselves, connect, mobilise and to positively engage with public institutions on Africa's peace and security," she said.

There will also be tweets showcasing the names, ages and fates of victims that have died as a consequence of conflict and violence in recent years.



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