Regional Forum on Youth Employment and the Prevention of Violent Extremism in Central Asia: An Inclusive Approach towards a Stable Region
The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) concluded a three-day “Regional Forum on Youth Employment and the Prevention of Violent Extremism in Central Asia” held in Antalya, Türkiye from 20 to 22 December. This event is organized within the joint EU-UN initiative Strengthening Resilience Against Violent Extremism in Asia (STRIVE Asia).
Over the past four years, STRIVE Asia has leveraged a number of regional activities aimed at identifying priority areas, synergies, and strategic needs in Central Asia which contributed towards the drafting of roadmaps with key recommendations and tailored implementation plans related to the prevention of violent extremism in the region.
The regional event gathered government representatives from the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), youth leaders and civil society organizations from Central Asia, as well as international experts from the International Labour Organization (ILO), the private sector, academia, and other UN entities, to discuss ways to increase youth employment and to prevent and counter violent extremism (PCVE) in the region.
Participants shared country-level policy initiatives and strategies aimed to improve youth employability, discussed key implementation challenges and brainstormed on ways to tackle them. International experts also presented recent trends in youth labour markets and shared best practices on youth employment policy engagements around the world.
The forum included interactive sessions that offered Central Asian youth a platform to exchange on challenges and opportunities, facilitate networking and cooperation, and promote a balanced implementation of their countries’ respective National Action Plans (NAPs).
The sessions explored possibilities of developing and implementing a roadmap that tailors to the respective NAPs of the five Central Asian states. Moreover, it concluded with discussions on effective PCVE strategies needed to engage youth, not only as beneficiaries of development interventions, but as agents of change that can help design and implement these strategies.
As a next step, the STRIVE Asia Programme will work on a targeted roadmap outlining key actions for youth to support the implementation of the NAPs such as employment and resilience, access to credit facilities and funding, engagement with private sector partnerships to expand opportunities for women and youth, improve youth entrepreneurial skills, and encourage investments in sectors with high job-multiplier effects.