The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) took part in a panel discussion on “National Action Planning on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism: Mechanisms and lessons Learned”, held on 30 June at United Nations Headquarters. The event was organized on the margins of the General Assembly Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. It was sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Kenya, the Netherlands and Nigeria and co-organized by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT), the Global Center for Cooperative Security and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Around 100 participants considered effective ways for Member States to incorporate countering violent extremism (CVE) and preventing violent extremism (PVE) approaches into comprehensive strategies for addressing the threats of terrorism and violent extremism. Representatives of Kenya and Nigeria described their efforts to develop and implement national CVE/PVE strategies, and other speakers described similar efforts undertaken in Serbia, Somalia and other countries. Emphasis was placed on the importance of ensuring national ownership of such processes and adopting an inclusive approach.
CTED provided an overview of the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee in this area, including in its work to monitor, facilitate and promote implementation of Security Council resolutions 1624 (2005) and 2178 (2014), which require States to introduce effective law enforcement measures and take other steps to strengthen the resilience of society against incitement and violent extremism.
In its presentation, CTED stressed several points, including the need to strengthen mutual respect and confidence between Government and civil society and ensure safe space for civil-society actors, the value of patience and persistence in building cooperation, and the benefits of establishing formal mechanisms to facilitate dialogue at the national level. CTED noted that useful guidance in this area could be found in the Madrid Guiding Principles, which were agreed at a special meeting of the Committee in Madrid in July 2015 and later endorsed by the Security Council.