How to jointly design, implement and monitor constructive responses to violent extremism

10.07.2019

Today, the European Union, Hedayah International Center of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) with its headquarters in Abu Dhabi and Search for Common Ground released a CVE Training Curriculum.

This CVE Training Curriculum is designed to raise awareness on collaborative CVE approaches among governments and civil societies, while better equipping them to prevent and counter violent extremism. It is support by the European Union’s Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism (STRIVE) Global program.

 

H.E. Patrizio Fondi, Ambassador of the European Union to the UAE, said that ”The EU is proud of having contributed to such an important and unique initiative, together with our partners from Hedayah and Search. By now, we are all aware that securitised responses to violent extremism need to be complemented with whole of society approaches. I am convinced that this initiative will be an instrumental game changer both in terms of formulation and implementation of CVE initiatives in the future.”

 

The Curriculum was designed with thorough consideration of local contexts, particularly in Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa region. The context-specific training program is available in English, Russian, and Arabic and highlights the benefits of a collaborative, whole-of-society approach—beyond the use of military or securitised responses.

 

“With the launch of this comprehensive training program, governments and civil societies can now easily access and integrate the knowledge, tools and practices necessary to reduce the risk of radicalisation within their communities,” Hedayah Executive Director H.E. Maqsoud Kruse highlights.

 

Through an engaging facilitated learning approach, the Curriculum forms more than a traditional training program. The training program enables participants to develop new understandings or critically approach complex issues (like violent extremism) that do not always have a “right” answer.

 

“With video prompts, practical group work, and links to further resources, this training package can be used by government, civil society, security forces, religious groups and anyone who is interested in playing their part. Each and every one of us has a role to play, and this curriculum helps us to turn that commitment into practice,” Search’s Senior Vice President of Programs Lena Slachmuijlder shares.

 

The complete CVE Training Curriculum package is accessible to the public on Search’s website (https://www.sfcg.org/countering-violent-extremism/), Hedayah’s website (https://bit.ly/2G2d8k4) and on the Counter Extremism Hub (www.counterextremismhub.org).