2019-Divina

Divina

Nominated by African Network of Young Leaders for Peace and Sustainable Development (ANYL4PSD) 

All 2019 Children’s Peace Prize Nominees

Divina is a 15-year-old girl who lives in Cameroon. After learning about extremist violence and its impact on children, she started a campaign called ‘I am standing up for peace’ when she was only 11 years old. Since 2014, Cameroon has been experiencing terrorist attacks by terrorist groups and rise of migration flows due to the crisis in Central Africa. Divina was horrified to learn that children are among the many victims of the terror imposed by these groups. Divina then created in 2014 the movement Children for Peace (C4P) with the aim to reinforce the children participation in peacebuilding and sustainable development.  She organized an Inter Community Children Peace Camp, aimed to reinforce inter-community dialogue against radicalism and child recruitment in armed groups. She urged decision makers, religious and traditional rulers to contribute more effectively to solving conflicts and sustainable development. Divina managed at such a young age to already engage more than 7.000 children in her capacity building activities.