 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for coming out on this rainy day. It's very good to have you here My name is Bill Taylor. I'm the acting executive vice president here at the United State Institute of Peace, and we're very pleased To welcome you to the building and in particular to this forum this conflict prevention and resolution forum of Washington, DC And we extend a special welcome to those who are joining us live via Livestream Broadcast you can all communicate with one another and the wider world about this event via Twitter at hashtag CPRF if you want to do that As many of you know and people in this room The conflict prevention and resolution forum provides a monthly platform in Washington for highlighting innovative and constructive methods of resolving conflict Established in 1999 the forum's goals are to one provide information from a wide variety of perspectives to explore possible solutions to complex conflicts and Three provide a venue for professionals from various disciplines to engage in cross-sector in multi-track Problem-solving I'd like to especially thank mr. Eric Rozan director of the CVE summit coordination cell Won't get this title right. I want people to make note of that that this is not what you had in your programs But as a director of the CVE summit coordination cell across the street at the State Department So we're very pleased to have Eric come across The forum is co-sponsored By a consortium of organizations represented by many of you in this room That specialized in conflict resolution or public policy formulation In addition to US IP our partner organizations include search for common ground The Alliance for Peace Building American University's international peace and conflict resolution program George Mason University School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Johns Hopkins University's conflict management program in the nitsy school of advanced international studies partners for democratic change and Georgetown University conflict resolution program welcome to all of you who represent those organizations and We want to thank you for your partnership with us. This is a great joint undertaking For those of you who are joining us in this building for the first time here at US IP Congress established us 30 years ago this year and funds us as a research research Center For training practice preventing resolving and transforming violent conflict Violent extremism is a global threat From the recent university attack in Kenya the raising of villages by Boko Haram in Nigeria The shootings at Bardo Museum in Tunisia Universal flow of fighters to Iraq in Syria the senseless killing of school children in Pakistan to the attacks on Rohingya minorities by Buddhist extremists United States Institute of Peace has now made the issue of violent extremism a core part of our organization Acting Vice President Colette Rausch and Georgia Homer are now leading this effort We will host another peace game in June in partnership With foreign policy magazine and the Kennedy School of Government Which will focus precisely on the issue of violent extremism and the strategies that help prevent it George Lopez sitting right down here the vice president of the US IP's Academy is organizing that game for us The peace building we do at US IP the tools we develop the strategies we test and refine the research we conduct The partnerships we cultivate are all deeply relevant to creating an effective and sustainable strategy to prevent violent extremism In our experience the long-term factors necessary for stable just peace such as strong governance inclusive political processes Accountable and responsive justice and security systems are central components of an effective CVE strategy We have also found through our years in conflict prevention That's strengthening resilience at both the community and state levels is key and the success is rooted in building Capacity and linkages among a broad range of civil society and state actors much of our work in CVE is done in partnership with the Department of State and USAID and implemented by our partners in the field We have worked to bring together women interfaith leaders and police in Nigeria and Kenya to build trust and jointly address Security issues in this way. We support models of community engagement that are inclusive and fully owned locally We have developed training curricula for the Hedaya Center for international excellence on CVE in media usage community engagement and policing and in rule of law for the multi-institute of international justice We have worked to support security sector reform in North Africa in the Sahel and So that those who are responsible to stop terrorism are not contributing further to the problem We have provided support to CVE pilot programming in Pakistan in Afghanistan Resulting in a range of innovative community level counter-narrative programs in the media in the arts and in education We help reach youth in ways that matter and provide viable alternatives to the messages of violent extremism We have conducted research on the factors that contribute to and help mitigate the influence of violent extremism Informing thoughtful programming and promoting a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which communities can be less vulnerable to violent extremism So this conversation today is important We in the peace building community have much to contribute to the discussion of CVE We recognize that like peace and democracy efforts to strengthen a society's ability to resist and recover from violent Extremism are not battles to be won or lost. We understand that solutions must be holistic thoughtful and long-term So we at USIP are delighted to host this month's forum And I'm now very pleased to turn the floor over to senior program officer Candice Carp from the USIP Academy To introduce the speakers and to Jared here today's session Thank you very much Bill I'd like to introduce Eric Roseanne who as Bill stated is the director of the CVE Summit Coordination Cell at the State Department Lena Schlackmulder who's vice president of programs at search for common ground and Nadia Gospalka Who's the director of security sector education at USIP Academy? But before I ask Eric to speak first Our goal here today is to have a very early assessment of CVE programs to determine hopeful paths for future programming CVE is a new field and we don't presume to have all the answers just yet To frame the issue at hand violent extremism is inspired justified and associated with an extreme political religious or social ideology Violent extremists are driven by narrow interpretations of issues and grievances and Often exploit and harness their agenda to larger conflict dynamics There are challenges that are increasingly evident the challenges of weak state legitimacy authority and capacity and The challenge of communities which have fractured to the point where they can't manage their relationships and Therefore they are no no longer able to self-regulate for the benefit of the community as a whole Violent extremist extremism flourishes in both these environments. Is this where CVE programming is most effective? There's the challenge of articulating the drivers of violent extremism We know that inequality discrimination and marginalization each play their part But we also know that the journey towards radicalization and violent extremism for an individual is deeply deeply personal and perhaps even unique to that individual in This context how can research define the criteria for identifying those who are most at risk of radicalization and involvement in violent extremism There's the challenge of articulating how violent extremism differs from other forms of violence Including those that may have cultural resonance Is it that violent extremism is different because it threatens the social fabric of a community and the social relations in that community There's the challenge of articulating the difference between countering and preventing violent extremism Is it that countering violent extremism is more fraught politically because the need is immediate and The issue of violent extremism is highly sensitive for many governments struggling to retain authority and control There are also trends or perhaps philosophies are a better is a better word which are increasingly evident For example the philosophy that government and non gun and non-government actors are equally important when countering violent extremism The philosophy that fends sitters those who remain undecided as to where their loyalties lie Are the optimal target audience for CV programming? And finally, there's the philosophy which links narratives to networks We can't talk about narratives or counter narratives Without first recognizing that networks and the people in them sustain the message and with that I'd like to turn it over to Eric for his perspective Increasingly selling it the topic the recent attacks in from Kenya to Tunisia to Pakistan to Denmark To France remind us that of the spread of violent extremism And that no country or community is immune and that's obviously become a truism Intelligence officials are arguing now that terrorism trend lines are worse than at any other time in modern history And so despite all the tactical successes that we've had in the past more than decade of our intelligence military and law enforcement efforts the violent extremism that radicalizes recruits and Mobilizes people especially young people to engage in terrorism has unfortunately continued to spread and so more than ever The perspective is that a comprehensive strategy to address the underlying drivers that fuel the appeal and spread of this violent extremism and One where local actors whether municipal governments families neighbors faith leaders youth Women play a vital role. This is essential And that's precisely why last September in his remarks at the Ewing General Assembly President Obama issued a call to action for governments and non-government stakeholders alike to do more to address the political economic and social Drivers of this violent extremism and to report on progress This coming September in New York and that's also why the president in February brought together more than 300 senior officials experts From the private sector civil society governments multilateral bodies to catalyze a Global effort against violent extremism by generating new innovative ideas and programs Mobilizing new resources and building new partnerships that are so critical not only to countering today's threats But preventing people from radicalizing recruiting or inspiring others to violence in the first place And this is why the president and others outlined an ambitious action agenda across a wide range of topics To guide the effort in the coming months and years and have leaders gather in New York this fall to report on the progress made On this positive preventative agenda. So this morning I want to elaborate briefly on this agenda and explain how we at the State Department are working with partners Across the globe to build what we hope will be a durable global partnership against violent extremism So the action agenda It built on the core themes of President Obama's February remarks as well as on the interventions from the gathering At the February summit where more than 60 countries civil society leaders from 53 countries Secretaries general from the UN the organization of Islamic cooperation the African Union, etc Representatives from technology and other industries joined together and there are nine cross-cutting topics in this agenda And incidentally many of these topics are ones that USIP As both Canis and Bill highlighted are working actively in The first is the need to gain a better understanding of the precise nature of violent extremism threats at the local and regional Level and of what interventions have proven effective in building community resilience to the spread of violent extremism We need to do a better job of encouraging and carrying out local research that will help understand what makes particular communities Vulnerable to violent extremism. We need to identify communities at the subnational level and within cities that are at the risk of Radicalization to violence and we need to study the factors that drive violent extremism within these specific communities Along with the potential impact of possible responses We need to ensure that the research findings are accessible to an actionable for policy makers Practitioners and the communities themselves, and we of course need to develop better tools With which to monitor and evaluate the impact of CVE project Projects all of this is needed to facilitate more targeted and effective interventions against violent extremism second We need to deepen our engagement with with and empower youth women and civil society more broadly of CVE actors and Helping sure that civil society has an enabling environment to develop promote and advance comprehensive solutions to address violent extremism and that laws and policies Designed to address violent extremism are not Being used to stifle the enjoyment of freedoms of expression a peaceful assembly and association or movement For example, we need to approach youth not just as the beneficiaries of but also partners in our CVE efforts Research shows that young people are more likely to listen To and be influenced by their peers and when we refer to quote-unquote credible voices youth are the key credible actor We need to work to identify concrete ways to support youth led initiatives to counter the narratives of violent extremists and to offer positive Alternatives as youth are often more technologically savvy than their parents They can play a vital role in social media in pushing back on ISIL's attraction in their own voices And in their communities schools and universities We can support and empower youth as social and civic leaders and mentors who can offer other options to susceptible peers Women as we know can also put have a unique role to play in preventing and countering violent extremism in families and communities because of their knowledge position and access as mothers and Sisters daughters and more work is needed to build the capacity and more broadly empower women community leaders to recognize the signs of radicalization Among family and community members and techniques for how to intervene preventively Third the action agenda highlights how more attention needs to be given to build trust and strengthen cooperation between communities vulnerable to radicalization and the police and security forces that are Charged with protecting them Where people see law enforcement as a threat it will take a concerted effort to improve relationships We need to expand efforts to educate government officials and security sector practitioners on the negative impact of human rights violations on efforts to address violent extremism and national security and that Enhanced respect for human rights will in fact enhance both national security and of course the effort against Terrorism and we have to ensure that police forces get the specialized training they need to engage with local communities to build relationships with these communities and to work with those that are at risk of radicalization without Inflaming the radicalization and the global counter-terrorism forum a new multilateral platform that the US helped Longs of years ago has developed a set of good practices and an action plan in this area that could underpin Scaled-up training on community police and communities community security force relations fourth the Agenda action agenda stresses that we must identify and scale up existing strategies and techniques to counter violent extremist messaging and Narratives as an essential element of a counter-terrorism strategy for addressing violent extremism to this end more Tensions should be given to supporting credible diverse local allies and potential partners to develop and disseminate their own counter-messages and alternative narratives or to amplify existing ones We will work to Institutionalize and expand web-based engagement efforts to help credible religious women youth community and other civil society leaders expose the negative aspects of Terrorist organizations among key demographics in their communities and network in online spaces fifth We must continue to highlight the important role that civic education Critical thinking and life skills can play on creating a bulwark against violent extremist recruitment This could involve engaging proactively with educational institutions that offer at-risk youth particular opportunities and provide critical thinking skills and trainings as alternatives to violent extremism and Here again the global counter-terrorism forums Abu Dhabi memorandum captures specific good practices on the role of education and CVE That could form the basis of expanded training and broader capacity building programs in this area Sixth we need to increase the availability and appeal of classical religious learning in order to counteract the distortions Deconstructualized sound bites and extremist interpretations circulating in the hands of radical groups. This could involve providing media training to mainstream religious scholars And associated educational institutions including social media and other online platforms to enable Preveyors of non-violence and tolerance to compete more effectively in the crowded marketplace of ideas All of this is necessary because as we know radical groups and movements often take advantage of the fact that those they are targeting for recruitment and indoctrination Frequently have little to no grounding and mainstream religious knowledge and push their views out through social media short videos and online courses Seventh we must not only intensify efforts to prevent radicalization in prisons which has served As hotbeds for violent extremist recruitment for many years But also to facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremists And those that are returning from Foreign fighters who are returning from Iraq and Syria who are not eligible for prosecution Again drawing on global counterterrorism form and here you end good practices and experiences from post-conflict And experiences from post-conflict disarmament demobilization and reintegration programs in places like Colombia and Northern Ireland Countries are being encouraged to develop unique programs to facilitate this rehabilitation and reintegration in the context of incarcerated violent extremists and returning foreign terrorist fighters And we need to gain a better understanding of why violent extremists or Returning foreign terrorist fighters disengaged as we look to improve the effectiveness of exit and diversion programs Eighth, we must continue to see expanding political economic and educational opportunities particularly for marginalized and disaffected populations If we are to be serious about wanting to reduce the pool of people who are susceptible to the messages and narratives of violent extremists Then we need to start by giving them a stake in their societies in which they're living And to ensure that governments are being responsive to the legitimate needs of their people in this context We need to also look to the private sector to expand its role in cve Whether through targeted vocational social entrepreneurship social media or other training or education initiatives that the private sector can Help resource and finally We must explore how development and other relevant foreign assistance can contribute to addressing populations Most at risk of co-optation or recruitment by violent extremists and the conditions conducive to radicalization to violence Here for example, we could start adapting counterterrorism and broader national security strategies to incorporate development based approaches strategically focused on addressing the drivers of violent extremism And elaborating an action plan under which interested development entities international development entities Could tailor existing and design new development assistance initiatives and programs aimed to address violent extremism This is an enormous agenda that brings together a whole range of issues that Are often treated separately and so one of the advantages of the uh the contributions of the cve summit in february Was I think for the first time perhaps to link all these areas in some way to this Violent extremist agenda or countering violent extremism agenda and it offers The international community whether governments non governments publics private A common comprehensive framework for building and sustaining this global partnership against violent extremism In the context of letting a thousand flowers bloom. There are all sorts of initiatives that can be pursued Some with the the violent the cve label on them others without the label on them All of which can be uh mutually reinforcing and advancing this this this agenda And so in terms of going forward, um We at the state department working with our partners are working to identify Uh A few areas of the action agenda that each Country can try to take forward and make progress on in the coming in the coming months So that when their leaders Come to new york in in september they can report on on this progress There'll be a series of regional summits Starting in mid-may and running through the end of july In places like albania, algeria, australia, denmark, jordan, kazakhstan, kenyan, napal, norway and elsewhere That will allow us to make progress on this agenda at the at the regional and local level and bring in more non-government partners along the way The idea is to grow the network of youth women religious and other civil society leaders As well as the private sector that are involved in this space so that we can tap into their innovation And other talents of in the communities that need to play a much larger role in tackling the violent extremist challenge um A washington-based angio, uh and cve summit participant the global center on Cooperative security has established a website www.cve summit.org to update the growing number of stakeholders involved in this process On the developments in the in the effort and with calendar of events and And to allow the community to stay connected And while we're very focused on september, we're also looking beyond september To ensure the sustainability sustainability of this this effort through the even through the end of this administration So we're working to strengthen the partnership with the un The african union the the oic The osc all sorts of regional organizations For example, the united nations is developing its first ever plan of action For preventing violent extremism which will harness the considerable expertise and resources of the un family In this effort and hopefully appoint the first ever Special representative for the secretary general on countering violent extremism And all this will be rolled out in new york this fall The world economic forum and the club for democracies are going to launch multi stakeholder Dialogues that are geared toward generating innovative solutions against violent extremism By building on the expertise of non-government actors in the private sector and civil society several participants in the february summit commented On how the meeting was a milestone in the global effort against violent extremism and a turning point We hope for the u.s. And moving forward toward a holistic approach that embraces marginalized communities As well as the role of civil society and and the private sector and the challenge we all face now is to build on this momentum So that it produces practical and tangible outcomes And it's an opportunity to supplement expand and innovate not only in the context of our efforts to deal with isle Boko Haram El Shabab and other existing terrorist networks But to prevent the threats from emerging in the next next generation And so at the summit secretary carry announced that we can send a clear signal to the next generation That its future will not be defined by the agenda of the terrorist and the violent ideology that sustains them We will not cower and we will prevail by working together our collective security depends on our collective response And so when leaders reconvene at the general assembly this fall, they will have a historic opportunity to consolidate the comprehensive whole of society effort Against violent extremism that we believe will pay dividends both in the short and long term And certainly cannot be an effort that governments alone Move forward on in fact at the end of the day. It's it's the non-government actors that have the most important role to play here So thank you very much again for Giving us the platform to talk about this initiative. Thank you very much. Lena Okay, good morning everybody and i'm really very very pleased to be here with you this morning I knew that I was going to follow after eric and you couldn't have paved the way better search for common ground across the world where we work in asia africa and the middle east we really Feel very much aligned with the outcome of the cve summit And what i want to share with you today is what does it look like when we kind of in when we engage in this programming to counter violent extremism And equally importantly, how do we know it's working? How are we measuring this so that we can actually begin to grow this field? Enhance its credibility and feel very aligned behind this kind of work So i'm going to talk to you about four pillars of cve in the way that at search for common ground We're defining this prevention disengagement improving state responses and amplifying new narratives So the prevention piece really comes back to the heart of Peace building's contribution to countering violent extremism As eric said and as many of you have also I'm sure read and learned The core drivers of violent extremism are rooted in issues around grievances In issues around participation In issues around how people work across dividing lines And how the messages of violent extremists are actually resonating with people's own sense of identity and their aspirations So for example on the top left We have been working in kpk in fata in pakistan Enabling young people to be able to hold a space of dialogue and solution seeking with their local governments And with the members of their community So this has enabled them to be able to step into spaces In an area where the taliban is very present And actually engage different stakeholders and feel as though they have a role and a stake in their future On the right you'll see our recently merged organization with search for common ground Sullya Which has been a pioneer in setting up virtual exchange and who seeks to make Cross-cultural exchange a part of every university student's experience Around the world So in more than 40 countries right now Young people are going through a cross-cultural facilitated dialogue Which enables them to understand others' experiences And have difficult and yet facilitated discussions around some of the key issues that often promote the myths and stereotypes That can feed into Adhesion to a violent extremism network Conversations around religion conversations around 9-11 conversations around politics globally and in the middle east And over here from northern nigeria We are working with young people and religious leaders and women to enable a Christian-Muslim dialogue to take place so that we can set up what we're calling a peace architecture And actually begin to ask ourselves How can we as citizens Contribute to security in our in our community The prevention piece also involves inter-religious dialogue While we do not see religion as the problem we see religion as having an opportunity to To reach out to people and speak to what parts of their identity Are perhaps feeling vulnerable or feeling in need of Some type of reinforcement Through adhesion to a more violent extremist ideology And so our work with religious leaders on the top left around the Holy Sights project Is very very important On the right there are our young people from Tunisia Where in all 26 governors we have set up youth councils With young people who really represent a diverse Profile between more secular and more islamist and more active and less active youth Who through coaching and training are able to engage with their local authorities Hold roundtables begin to take collaborative action Not only around peace and security but around issues that concern them And to begin to feel it as partners in their future And media is a very important part of our work And it's also another role, I'll come to that a little bit later on But again all of this prevention work for search for common ground Is the kind of work that we've been doing for 35 years It's the kind of work that we were doing in the Cartier Populaire of Bujumbura When there was violent extremism between Hutus and Tutsis And so our work in the prevention pillar is really the core of what we're doing And continues in all of our regions So what does it look like when we're measuring success in this? Because all of our work is actually measured through ongoing monitoring midterm and final evaluations So we've been able to establish indicators that are being able to demonstrate that the grievances that people have are being addressed through nonviolent channels That marginalized groups obviously after having done a proper mapping are actually engaged in the conversation And that young people in particular who we've identified as being vulnerable to extremist narratives are particularly engaged We're measuring new relationships across dividing lines And those may be across religious dividing lines. They may be tribal. They may be regional etc We're able to measure that those relationships improve And they were also able to measure what people's attitudes and beliefs are and how those are shifting through the experiential nature of this prevention work The second pillar of our work is disengagement Right, there's um, there's a number of states around the world that have actually been quite effective in arresting And imprisoning people who have been accused of of terrorist acts One of those places is in Indonesia where they've arrested more than 800 People for terrorist related crimes and we know that in prisons It's both an opportunity and a risk an opportunity for people to begin to explore New perspectives on the world to begin to reflect on the choices they've made But it can also be a place where people actually harden their views become further entrenched in their silos And as we know people have even orchestrated further terrorist acts from their prison cells So our work, particularly in Indonesia and Morocco has enabled us to Firstly work with the prison authorities to enable them to feel more confident and comfortable About how they need to deal with these high-risk prisoners in most of these prisons They're not separating these prisoners And yet they as prison officials are aware that they're not necessarily dealing with these prisoners in a way that Enables them to contribute engage and participate in the normal activities So our disengagement works firstly with the prison officials And then we bring in other types of trainers from civil society and interestingly in Morocco From a network of religious leaders who then come and engage with the prisoners in a way to begin to explore issues around identity and self-esteem And the eventual return and reintegration into society So what are we measuring in this disengagement field? We're measuring how the prison officials Firstly accept understand and then use these skills in managing prisoners better who've been convicted of terrorism The prison officials themselves according to our evaluations are able to see that this group of prisoners before The intervention with search for common ground were not speaking to anybody would not participate would not come to the activities They can see that that shift has been made and that's able to be measured And as a result these high-risk prisoners have exposure to diverse perspectives around their extremist narratives And that can be through just simply engaging with other prisoners as well as the religious leaders who come the conflict transformation Trainers and the prison officials who now have a higher degree of sensitization around these issues And the fourth result that has emerging more and more from this work Is that because we're engaging religious leaders with this very sensitive target group The religious leaders themselves are better understanding what it is that is at the root of some of that adherence To violent extremist ideologies and they themselves thus in the good feedback loop are able to sort of take those lessons Apply them back with that population, but also with people outside of prison The third pillar of our work is improving state responses. I'd mentioned that There are effective counterterrorism police and security forces One of them is Densis 88 in Indonesia and in their work in tracking and Arresting and conducting raids around the country to capture people Suspected or having committed acts of terrorism They have also fallen to a great degree of scrutiny by human rights organizations These organizations have criticized their actions for being wrongly targeted for using torture for perhaps Turning to persecuting the family members of people when they're unable to find the actual target of their surveillance And so what we've done is we've Recognized with Densis 88 and with the human rights organizations that there's a need for dialogue There's a need for dialogue to begin to understand What are we saying? What are our values? What are the principles that we hold true to ourselves as Densis 88 and as human rights groups? And the result of this over many years has been extraordinary We've been able to see that the human rights groups have been sensitized to some of the dilemmas that High highly capable counterterrorism unit faces at the same time The people at Densis 88 have reinforced their training in human rights for their troops But also have recognized that there's not just a sort of a training in sort of the human rights principles that's needed But really a greater sensitization to the counter effect that their negative actions that That that violate human rights can have on their own effectiveness So together through the dialogue that search for common ground has been facilitating We're able to see A common code of conduct emerging whereby the human rights organizations recognize and accept the role Of the counterterrorism force and the counterterrorism force as well Understand to what degree they need to respect human rights because they now see it in their interest This kind of work is underway in many countries around the world in northern Nigeria. We're having a similar Work with human rights groups actually first to enable them To work more effectively as human rights defenders and then to engage in dialogue with the security forces Right, so the goal is the same in terms of enabling people to see themselves as having a shared interest And thus to diminish the possibility of these security forces efforts being discredited by human rights groups But also enabling the security forces to recognize that a couple Bad moves is going to end up discrediting them and will cut off future allies and alliances in their seeking of To counter violent extremism On the bottom here, we have a very historic group of people Convened by search for common ground in kyrgyzstan. We're over the last two years. We've been able to bring together For the first time a completely extraordinary and unusual group of officials ranging from police to ministries to The state run Religious affairs ministry to other religious institutions to begin to explore What is our understanding of the drivers of violent extremism in kyrgyzstan and central asia? How can we work together around this and this picture came towards the end of this last phase of the project where we actually Extended this dialogue to is bekistan Tajikistan and afghanistan and these are people from the police forces from all of those countries who frankly we were surprised and enthused by the fact that they came which is already one of the indicators of success And the testimony that we've received after this phase of work has really enabled us to see that It's by understanding where people's interests can can be shared that really common action can be pursued On the top right is actually a picture from lebanon where we have a pilot project underway with the isf the The police in berut to begin to build bridges with the with the youth and while this project is not really framed for search for Common ground in the in the sense of violent extreme extremism For me, it's very very clear that as we build bridges between young people and police officers on the left It's the same work that is underway in napal. We're actually going to be able to help people Work together towards combating extremism in a way that Is not always evident So what are we measuring in this pillar of our work, right? The forum for stakeholders to come across dividing lines and find a common approach approach is the first indicator of success We all are peace builders and we know how difficult it is to get people in the room And when we actually are able to have that dialogue between densest 88 and the human rights groups Or between the kirgis and usbek and tajik all together It is a phenomenal success already The second indicator that we're measuring is how much are the non-state actors that either have been or are at risk of discrediting these state actions How are how is their approach shifting? How are they better able to collaborate with the security forces? How are they perhaps? Rendering more sophisticated their approaches beyond simply denouncing the abuses of of of the security forces And that's another area that we're measuring as we continue to engage with these non-state actors We thirdly do see that the knowledge and application of human rights principles by security forces Is another thing that we're able to measure in kirgisan Not only did we bring people together for a dialogue, but they were actually able to agree on a curriculum For police and security sector training in kirgisan like people from a wide sector Actually agreeing on a curriculum They were also able to agree on the production of two films that talk about the history of islam and the nature of jihad in central asia And imagine a film that needs to be produced and have 25 or 30 different rounds of reviews So we see that as a real success in our ability to find some areas of common ground So that's also number four that higher collaboration between non-state actors And often it's when we actually attempt to do something together that we recognize better where the barriers are and where we need to reinforce That collaboration and with the example that I just mentioned There's a shared narrative that's disseminated the film that we produced was broadcast all over the country It's now being used in community dialogue screenings And it's a film that reflects a narrative that the ministry of interior and the muftiat And the local civil society organizations all feel good about so that's a huge success The last pillar is amplifying a new narrative Again, I kind of avoid the word countering and I'll get to that at the end But I really see this about the amplification of important credible voices that can enable us to To debunk the myths and the conspiracies and to enable people to hear new perspectives Around things that may be resonating again with their own sense of identity and what they're looking for as they move towards extremist ideologies So on the top left is uh from indonesia We targeted 10 pesantras board Islamic boarding schools in areas where there had been terrorist action We worked with those students set up radio stations within the pesantras But also enabled them to make their own documentary films films that explored identity films that explored What does it mean to be a muslim films that explored? What's going on with other faith groups and those films were then able to be shown in festivals to be screened in the communities And apart from the transformative effect that that had obviously on young people who had never Used a camera before in some instances It also was able to reflect out to the community that if you thought that the pesantras was a breeding ground of terrorists Well look again And and those films are online. They're actually beautiful if you want to take a look at them I uh, you can find them through search for common ground On the right is um an imam from morocco. His name is imam el mortada and he's someone who um really identifies with the salafi tradition and um had been very much um frustrated with The way in which the young people in his community were feeling and was sort of really gaining prominence And being a sort of a more radical voice in his community He engaged with the youth councils uh in morocco Similarly to what we're doing in tunisia And through different activities he began to understand the difference between conflict and violence The different ways of having voice and contributing to collaborative solutions And he began to be more also comfortable with people of diverse viewpoints and he has um through that experience Been very vocal and very active on his own facebook page Speaking at public events. He's been honored in different forums But what's interesting with imam el mortada is that the same people that were his fans In the earlier version of mortada are still his fans today So for us, that's really an example of how uh really working with key Messengers who are already credible can really shift the narrative Two more quick examples common ground news service is something that search for common ground ran for about 12 years Which was a weekly news service bringing out New and alternative voices Primarily around us and majority muslim countries It was distributed to thousands and thousands of newspapers around the world in five languages And that news service every single week reminded us that beyond the headlines There are other perspectives and not only would we curate these articles But we would also go to people like imam el mortada Or go to people who were in kpk and fat and say we'd like to hear your voice Can you write an op-ed for us and that work of the common ground news services? Was a wonderful model and we're trying now to see in which way we can Bring that out using not just print media The last example is under the same sun, which is the first feature film that search for common ground produced It's it was a mockumentary Set in a day where there actually is peace between israel and palestine And through the screenings that we did particularly in jewish film festivals across north america We were able as well to be able to open a conversation around new possibilities And new ways of thinking about this very entrenched conflict So um amplifying new narratives can be through news through op-eds through fiction through comic books through feature films And it it and and how are we measuring that change? Firstly, we need to make sure that that that we have the reach that we have the penetration right so we need to understand Are is the media that we're produced simply preaching to the converted or are we actually able to reach to the people who most need that We're able then to understand that people who've consumed who've accessed that media Are they actually shifting to to new narratives and interestingly We are the followers followers of people like imam el mortada Following him through his own transformation Away from extremism Number three is obviously that all of these are about empathy with the other If we look at the stories of of Extremists and the stories and the books and the films that have been done on them They themselves really speak to that turning point of actually being able to empathize with the other as a key Factor behind their their move away from extremism Myths conspiracies and stereotypes types are debunked and we create the rallying points for this moderate majority So New narratives is obviously a lot around media But in many of our programs, we're doing solidarity activities in central african republic where there's been extreme Extremism by both christians and muslims We've done week after week after week of festivals because it's not an environment Which we're going to penetrate through social media But we get people dancing and singing and doing theater together Every week because that is a place where people are going to say, okay I know that I've lost my family because of this or that group But on my doorstep there's people from both groups actually celebrating together So the tactics around new narratives really can change And the last thing I want to say is that um at search for common ground We although we do really align with the um The action plan that came out of the cde summit and uh, it feels wonderful to really feel as though with the state department We're going to be able to do good work. We also are very clear that our work needs to be without judgment And that um, it's the recognition that people make choices and that no one is born a terrorist That is going to really make us do our work effectively the minute that we begin to try to um Demonstrate or articulate or reflect that we feel one of these groups in this environment is wrong and needs to be changed The effectiveness of our intervention will be undermined And so this you know is really part of the values and the approach of search for common ground In recognizing our common our common humanity and recognizing our interdependence And so as we continue to do this work and grow it around the world We will you know really continue to be uh to be true to that underlying principle of our common humanity Thank you Nadia Good morning, uh, I feel like uh Everything that erig said I can just finish my presentation by by saying yes, we do that um But let me tell you a little bit more About how we're working um to contribute to the cv agenda here usip My task here is to tell you about a piece of what we do here at usip which is the work of the academy that has been That started about two and a half years ago On the you know to contribute to the cv agenda As ambassador taylor and candace already mentioned usip is engaged in a lot of different fronts Or a lot of different programs here at usip are engaging in cv So i'm going to talk to you about a piece of it So the usip academy has a program of instruction that uh really Our goal is to give tools to people in various countries that are facing violent extremist threats To have the tools or the so they have the capacity to counter violent extremism in their own environments We do that by engaging both government actors and civil society actors and and and communities But we really focus on a capacity building lend on a approach So we're really working on what kind of tools what kind of skills what kind of knowledge Do we need to impart to the various actors with whom we work in the various sectors? Which i'll talk about in a few minutes What kind of tools do they need so they can do um Uh, you know address this this threat that they face every day so The premise um of you know of our work Is that a lot of what drives violent extremism is exclusion structural inequality Discrimination marginalization being left out not being able to contribute or participate in society We see this from uh, you know paris to All over sub-saharan africa and all over the world. Um, so that's where we're working and which shows Or which which is the logic for why we engage governments and try to build a capacity of governments and not just civil society So we believe that federal states suffer from a breakdown of a social contract and what we're trying to do is to reinstate And and fix the fractured relationships that exist in society that kandace mentioned earlier So our approach is um to help various actors in countries That face violent extremism Which as eric side is basically everyone uh around the world Are the most we really that's most effective When governance structures entire governance structures are built and they have the capacity to address grievances And the capacity to deliver services so that Grievances can be either addressed or we can even prevent You know the Grievances arising. So the work that we do the programs that we have Are about reinstating a social contract So what we're working on is to help Various actors Engage in and or have the capacity to choose non violent paths and then that Means that we're talking about a couple of different sectors public sectors That we so we have privileged and chosen to Work with the security sector and specifically the police and i'll talk a little bit more about the program there and the education sector We look at those sectors as both being able to Radicalize or or at best Not prevent the radicalization. We all know the security the security forces Can serve as a radicalization force and education Institutions can also serve as as radicalization actor Forces so we really want to make sure that we engage those and we give them the capacity to At least not radicalize and then develop the tools to Give the capacity of various actors to Engage in a non-violent ways Communicate their grievances and those kinds of things. So how do we do that? We work to Focus on a couple of different Capacities one messaging. We've already heard about messaging branding messaging and narratives Providing the skills to people so they can develop a new language For enhanced cve capacity that means that maybe in social media or that That's when the police Goes out and does an operation that you know requires some You know Maybe some weapons some force things like that that it's done in a way in which it's you know It's communicated to the community communicated to various actors. How what what the rule of law Context provides for those types of operations We give them the ability to communicate to the community to explain to the community to educate the community on what they're doing And we ask them to also develop the capacity to Self-reflect and think about their own operations and whether they are You know Unfolding the way they should in a way that that doesn't further radicalize We ask Our participants to Learn to address stress and trauma so they can build resilience So that they can engage in collective activities to resist Calls for recruitment or a variety of other cv type of violent extremism type of activities We also work to address distortion of values We you know various interpretations of of of various narratives We really really distort values. So how do we address those? And then we also teach our participants How to establish long-term partnerships between citizens and their governments So that's sort of the focus that underpins all the different programs that i'm about to talk about Our theory of change is Really that the government capacity to provide fair and responsive public services increases Then we'll see that marginalization And radicalization will decrease and societal resilience against violent extremism will increase This is just something that allows us to Craft our curriculum and the deliver particular content in a way that is Coordinated across the programs Here in the academy usip we have a methodology which is really very interactive. So we focus and emphasize A cycle of learning which We really focus is on capacity building and we give our courts Participants the ability to learn Some are the knowledge and the skills that we want to teach them for enhanced capacity We privilege practicing so they spend a lot of time in exercises In real scenarios that they are dealing with In a lot of our programs both the education and the security sector education Programs we have Them develop national plans for or project plans for various Adjusting various threats. So and then we spend a lot of time on reflection And reflection means that we respect the fact that there's quite a bit of capacity on the ground When we bring when I bring police officers from Pakistan in a room And there's much less to teach them They're all very educated and have a lot to contribute, but they don't have necessarily the space Usually to reflect think about You know in a coordinated manner in a in a with guided Reflection to think about how do I put a plan together in order to adopt a service oriented ethos for example, what are the the resistance That you know the sources of resistance that I'll encounter in those types of issues So we give them the space to reflect we facilitate that reflection and get them to move forward onto Whether it's a plan a strategy or those types of things. So that that's what goes on into our courses Our courses are being held for the most part. We're actually branching out now But for the most part at the Hedaya Center of Excellence for CVE in Abu Dhabi, which many of you Probably know about and we are working to strengthen their capacity to Have an education and training Ability to for for their for the entire world So our methodology is very much come to our course and you engage With country teams we usually bring a bunch of people from a particular country and they have to spend three to five days working Together to think about How they're going to address particular issues and how they can foster change when they go back home So we have a couple of different pillars One is policing if we call it policing for cve and helping we work with the police we bring the police Together from various countries. We've been working with Somalia, Pakistan Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia and various others Nigeria and We're working with them to help them Think about what kind of changes need to take place at the police institution at the level of the institution all the way down to the You know operational level and what kind of changes need to take place So that they can be a service oriented institution This is what I meant earlier when I talked about the tools that we give We we impart on our participants is we're trying to get them to Organize themselves to structure themselves to provide a public service so that Violent extremism can both be addressed and prevented So we work to Get them to think about what kind of changes do they need to to make kind of policies need to take place What kind of human resources structures need to be put in place all those types of things which are We've been working on for years that can really address violent extremist threats We really emphasize institution building what are the types of things that need to take place Most police officers that you talk to and maybe Tunisian and other places which are transitioning Countries will say the biggest problem I have is that I have to respect human rights because as Lena said There are many Much pressure on them to respect human rights But they don't know what that means necessarily and they need to translate that respect For those guiding principles into policies and practices that everyone in the police force needs to be trained on So they when they go out there and engage with the community they behave differently So we work with them. What does that mean? How does that translate into different practices into different policies? So we've been in the process now of working with several of the countries To help them develop national plans For how to incorporate this this service oriented ethos and we repeat we really tell them that this is an ethos This is a philosophy Much of the service oriented police training that's been done in the past was at the operational level sort of giving people You know Creating a division for community oriented policing or community policing divisions But to really get them to think about everything that the police institution does has to have a service oriented ethos Even the hard policing even when you go out and arrest a terrorist even when you respond to you know In a hostile environment in a hostile situation It you have to think about communication. You have to think about partnering about your partners You have to think about the service orientation that you have So that's the pretty challenging piece, but that's what we're we're working on With them. This is a sustained Uh program that we've we've been running since 2013 Um, we also help them address resistance both from political establishment legislative actors and obviously the community Who don't necessarily trust them or often don't trust them. There are some issues of legacies of the past From places like northern ireland to tunisia and you know people the police isn't necessarily trusted and it's really difficult to turn into um a different type of institution when it's the same faces that are in a different uniform and um We help them to shift their narrative. We have helped them to develop slogans new slogans as a promise of new service to the population and and a sort of rallying call for the types of uh Changes and policies and practices that they they need to to make so various slogans Like the LAPD so slogan we serve and protect that kind of thing But it's something to get them thinking about how what do we organize around? So that's some of the work that we're doing with the police Uh, we're about to go to um Abu Dhabi in may and work with pakistan and with somalia on furthering their national plans We also have a another pillar which as I mentioned we work with the education sector We bring in civil society and um members and educators and ministry officials and we teach them the role of Show them and get them to think and analyze about the push and pull factors that can lead to violent extremist activities We get them to um Think about what kind of projects can they put together? they just my colleague just came back from Abu Dhabi a couple weeks ago where A education professional and civil society actors came together and put together plans for projects That they're going to go home and implement and I will be engaging them again in the fall to further the the And then adjust some of the issues that they've been they've been facing And then we also um teach alternative approaches to address grievances. So nonviolent approaches Which we all know very well about in in this room But how do you you know address some of those things and how do you teach those things to young people? and and people around in the society We have a third Leg to our program of instruction and that's where we call it media and communication. It's really the idea of How can Communication or how does communication play a role? in either supporting violent extremism or in countering it So just to bring them, you know get them to understand that the language the messages the The branding that various organizations make are really important and they have to have be They have a strategic nature to them and you have to be really careful and be very skilled in how you communicate And and and choose words The ability to critically assess is also something that we give them To think about how can you Assess information that's being out there. So there are all kinds of narratives to have a critical eye There's a bunch of a bunch of work that's been done on a lot of different groups Boko Haram El Shabaab Isis To really think about okay. Look at this narrative, but there's been a lot of work The french actually just came out with a video just explaining what it actually means when you get to Iraq or various other places where Isis is is engaged What did your life actually looks like and so to give them a critical eye on what the narrative is about to develop via we also give them The the skills to have communication strategies to use the media Candace is going pretty soon in To teach on how do you Communicate via the media. How do you send those messages? How do you set a new narrative a new language? And finally we our fourth pillar is a about community empowerment and that's really to address Issues of trauma issues of legacies of violence in the community and to really think about what first for people to want to Begin to understand and take back knowledge about what it means to have trauma and how crippling trauma can be for people and How it limits their ability to counter violent extremism in a variety of different ways We also teach them how to learn how to deploy new means of religious and cultural expression so that they do it in nonviolent ways and We also help them develop an understanding of the impact and stress On the community and help them develop strategies to promote the resilience of their entire community So they can engage more more actively. We talk about women groups When mothers sisters, you know youth When there's trauma, it's much more difficult to engage in those kinds of ways Um So we really help them to understand become aware of what they are Facing what they have give them maybe coping skills So that they can begin to organize and resist And and become resilient to the pull and the push factors of violent extremism. I'll stop here I hope we have an interesting discussion. I'm happy to answer many more questions on these programs Um, and thank you for your time Uh, thank you very much to our three panelists The programming sounds terrific and eric the roadmap sounds very sensible But I know you have to leave um in a few moments But I was wondering whether you can elaborate on the roadblocks that are currently being thrown up in in front of you and this Road map for for progress I think the the challenges are going to be more on the the government responses than on empowering civil society, I think We will see lots of additional resources mobilized to support the work of search for common ground and other Civil society actors that are so critical to engaging in this space. We'll see more credible voices Incredible messengers, whether it's youth women Religious leaders identified But I think whether rubber hits the road is will we be able to Get governments to open up their societies to more civil civil society engagement more civil society empowerment Will we see governments stop using? The threat of violent extremism and terrorism are broadly to crack down on This very same groups whom we're trying to empower Will we see governments stepping forward to actually meaningfully do more to address the grievances of of their marginalized communities to make them less susceptible to being drawn into the the arms of violent extremist messages In groups who in some case can provide services for marginalized communities. So I think it's it's not a It's not a secret what the challenge is it's getting governments to change their behavior recognizing that governments are often the Government behavior can be a key driver of violent extremism and we're not Polyannish about this endeavor. We don't expect governments who all of a sudden to all of a sudden Shift on a dime because of this process Come september what we do hope is that over time You know If we stick with this for the next few years that we see some progress on that on that front, but again I think we're not We're pretty clear-eyed what the what the obstacles are But we still think even with those obstacles and if we don't make enough progress there that simply creating more Opportunities for civil society more resources for civil society more training for civil society That will have been a certainly a positive step forward Lena can I flip that around? To what extent do you think that civil society organizations are willing to work with governments in the cve space particularly governments whose Government records aren't exactly stellar No, it's a good question. I think there's there's two dynamics here One is that in some of what I shared we recognize that there has been less than optimal collaboration And so that's why we've designed initiatives that seek to create a space for exchange and conversations to actually overcome those barriers and many civil society organizations notably human rights organizations have been trained for 100 years about how to denounce abuses and how to whistleblow and that can polarize relationships So shifting that to actually enable people to say we're all building a peace architecture We're actually building something together is also a way forward But I do also I would say the second Dynamic is that you know the use the use of force and the use of violence by certain governments Only reinforces the attraction of certain narratives and reinforces the validity of certain grievances And so I think that there's another dynamic at play whereby we can offer millions or even billions towards CVE and peace building approaches towards countering violent extremism And yet what are the resources that are being used in other Ways using kinetic force and is that helping or hindering the process? And you know, there's a lot of scrutiny about the effectiveness of civil society approaches to CVE work We need tools and indicators and all those kinds of things We're not perhaps also applying the same scrutiny towards the use of violent force as an effort to try to to counter or You know to counter violent extremists and do you find members of the ct community amenable to your opinions on what they're doing? Right and perhaps even what they're doing wrong in this in this field Well, that's why I really want to say that I think that the February summit was a real turning point because I Felt as though if they're able to come up with the eight point action plan, right? Without having to have an entire caveat that says in the meantime We're still going to do all of these kinds of things. I mean, it's there in the declaration But there's a real recognition and a commitment to pursuing these approaches My engagement with different ct people. I don't think that right now in 2015 That they're going to do a parade about how successful military force has been Encountering violent extremism. That's the place. We're in at our moment in time at this in 2015 It doesn't necessarily mean that as a peace building organization We want to eliminate intelligence and security forces not at all But the exploration and the inquiry about how can that that use of force Actually be contributing to the driving causes of violent extremism, which more and more people are understanding Is the central question today and Nadia your perspective Yeah, I fully agree and I think this is why we focus our efforts on trying to get To the police services specifically But other security forces to get them to understand what kind of changes in Behavior and conduct, you know working on code of conduct and those kinds of things What needs to change For them to be able to do that again I think that that's really important for the community to think really hard and fast about the types of Training that we do and who we do it for Because for example human rights training by itself just to teach the the conventions and and those types of things Don't really help a police officer to change their behavior on the ground It needs to be I mean for the rest of us You know if you go to new york city and you ask an nypd officer, you know, do you respect human rights? I said, I don't know. No, I don't know because they with these guiding principles That have informed the policies and that have trained and that have then trickles out into training and various practices So I think it's really important to focus on the government the government capacity because I think I do agree that They can radicalize they can they can make things worse and they do give credence to the to the The grievances. There's no doubt about it. Even in france. There were some good reasons You know why these things happened and there's a lot of exclusion And a lot of repression So all over the world we we see that and I think it is an issue of government capacity To what extent are the participants that you train in your policing The the participants you train in your policing course are receptive to the cvu tools that you provide Do they see them as a legitimate tool in What how they would perceive cve in that particular context? It's a long road. It's a long road ahead Yeah, but yes, I would say I've been engaging the same people since 2013 And um the first time we were there. We had a couple of people who just said, please just send us drones Please just send us drones. That's all we need. Um, we just and we've worked. I mean, this is really what I mean by building capacity We've worked on getting them to think What what's what is that going to do? What are the long-term effects? What is that going to do to society every? Terrorist has a mother who will now be inflamed if you kill them And to get them to think that way Police officers all over the world face significant threats every single day And they don't necessarily have the opportunity to think about things this way So the idea is really to get them to think along This is why I mentioned the issue of reflection To move along in their thinking and their approach and to have the skills to think a little bit more long term And to so yes, they're willing. I just saw the same people three weeks ago And they're no longer asking for drones. They're now I've asked them to put a slogan together and For the tunisians their slogan was your police changes with you. They're in transition period. It was very interesting. It was no longer a very You know kinetic sounding sort of approach. Um, so I think yes, there's But in there's movement Yes, there's openness, but then there's the how right I I saw the tunisians right after bardo three days after bardo And they were saying that's fine. We can respect human rights But how because we have some bad people out there There are you know threatening to do this again And the answer to how is different investigative practices different, you know, uh, you know when you're going to do interrogations There are different ways we have to bring that to them Lena you spoke about your philosophy of no judgment Does that impact at all your ability to access Communities who do have judgments and would like to see some form of justice In in the cve space. Hmm. That's an interesting question. Um Again, that's the answer to that question, you know, resonates with all of the work that we do because we're every single day Reaching out to people who actually feel as though the solution to their problem is the elimination of the other And they feel like that very deeply and they've been wounded and they've been harmed and they've lost family members And so within the context of cve The approach of search for common ground recognizes that and recognizes that people Um will need to be um Accompanied through a process of feeling heard and recognized in their own Sense of grievance or grieving or trauma Before they're able to actually Listen to another person and when people feel as though, um human rights groups again That denouncing and whistleblowing and that kind of thing is is an effective strategy We're not there to say don't do that We're also there to say there might be also some other ways of actually building common ground And the only way to actually enable people to move beyond that sense of wanting judgment or punishment on the other Is to enable them to actually feel as though they have shared interests Um until that point It's very normal and natural given the way that our societies Are built that we would feel as though the natural reaction or the justified reaction Is to want the elimination or the punishment of the other And so but but but human beings are actually have an incredible capacity To to to feel connected across these dividing lines And that's the magic of doing this kind of work Is that we are actually able to touch into those common courts, but it's it's not an easy journey Do you have any final thoughts before I open it up to the audience for questions? No, let's go ahead and do that So some questions Okay, can I ask that you keep questions short and succinct, please go to the microphone? Yes, ma'am Yeah, thank you. I know I have a really soft voice um So in active conflicts and places like Syria and Yemen where the government and law enforcement structures have pretty much broken down and so their ability to Deliver services to address grievances to cooperate with citizens Are limited to non-existent What do you think the role of of citizens and civil society groups and religious leaders in those sort of sectors? Still on the ground in the countries can be in cve and what sort of skills or capacities do you think It can be helped to develop in those groups, you know within those contexts Sort of what would training for those type of groups perhaps look like? No, it's a good question. And I think that once a conflict becomes Violence so that it's difficult to implement we we for example are Barely keeping our work alive in Yemen right now That there there is an important role to actually continue to find ways to to amplify these narratives of Of understanding of different perspectives. So that is something that can be done for example through The channels that are available social media the possibility of Continuing to enable people to Not become more polarized as a result of the conflict and Yemen is a perfect example because people Actually are very comfortable living with diversity in that country and yet the people At war are trying to make the case that that's that's not the case So it's a question of keeping keeping that other narrative alive In the case of Syria I think ourselves and many other organizations Have had challenges to work in the country, but we are working actively with With syrian refugees knowing that this is a long-term protected protected conflict and that we will need to Be able to help a conversation around Identity and diversity and a shared future for the long term but I don't want to Under estimate the challenges of actually trying to do some of this work In an active conflict like Syria and Yemen It's it's certainly not if it was easier we would be doing it and we're not it's not that we don't want to It is it is very challenging for sure It's I think it's the same for for us that we we don't we can't get in there In in those in those environments, but we do bring people out of those environments in various We we have a program right now That's going on in Morocco where we're bringing this you know security actors together for the region North Africa region and we're getting them to think and these are Government actors from the most part police professionals and getting them to think about the types of Engagements that they can they can make I would say that one of the Things to really think about and I don't have proof that this works per se, but I'm really Getting more and more behind the idea is to teach to bring people out of these environments and Teach them how to partner already right to teach them. How do you how does police? commission or partner with a few community leaders and Get them to think about what terms of the partnerships where the terms of partnerships could be What each actor can do to really mutually reinforce each other for the more secure, you know situations it probably hopefully in preparation for the You know cooling off of the of the conflict because We see that the legacy issues are extremely extremely difficult to deal with Once you know a conflict has has has gotten a little colder So it's really important. We all see it in Northern Ireland They're very much 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement There are still some significant legacy issues that are stopping a Partner partnering with each other. There's mutual, you know disrespect and distrust So I think it's really you know, it's important to To think about how can we get people to begin to learn to work together and to think about how they One without the other can't provide security. There won't be a security without the two partnering together on a regular basis So I think that that's an important thing To to do and then to think about the narrative to think about language How do we transform the language that that's going to be used in the future all around the same themes? Yes, sir Kendo and the cnc of press A kind of theme emerges from Some of the comments that actually it might be easier to deal with the mid-level people the police and so on Then with the central governments, which might be very intransigent and Are you able to get away with that when you have a really intransigent government? That is a big part of the problem and yet you are able to get in and talk to these mid-level local police So yes, it is um interestingly what what I see is that when you're working with the police it is the the middle That is the most receptive And sees the problem the best right rank and filer have much harder much much harder time seeing the problem They're out there on the street, and it's either he shoots me or I shoot him in lots of different places So they have a much less perspective We are beginning to engage parliamentarians central governments and in some of the You know countries where the government is centralized. There are much less than fewer actors And so we are engaging we engaging them in Tunisia have meetings with Pakistani parliamentarians that are here in town this week This afternoon to talk to them about the programs that we're doing in Pakistan To get them to buy in to the process and to get them to understand what they have to do to contribute To the changes that we're trying to promote the greatest Obstacle that the police professionals that we bring together States as you know the greatest challenge is the political establishments and political will for change We that's nothing new to anybody in this room But that's we need to get them to understand how to get the buy-in This is what I was talking about the resistance for change. That's where it comes from And so how do you sell the idea of a new ethos? How do you you know? What is it going to do for the country in a way that's you know Not as threatening To to the political establishment. They have to to leave it Leave the door open a little bit and and and some people want to make the changes So we are beginning to engage at that level and but we're teaching police leadership To engage at that level also The gentleman up the back Excuse me Ken Meyer gorg roll dock One of the speakers who I hope won't mind me referring to her as Lena As I got here too late to learn how to pronounce her last name correctly Pointed out that the use of force by certain governments promotes can promote violent extremism I'm wondering if one of those governments is our own Our leaders have a proclivity for resort resorting to violent means And if you believe violence breeds violence Trying to convince them that there are other ways to accomplish the same objectives nonviolent ways Could be a productive way to reduce violent extremism Yes, yes, and I think that um, absolutely It was it was funny because I got the impression that I it is as though I was not referring to the u.s Of course, I'm referring to the u.s. Also Absolutely, and if we look at what's happened in the communities where there have been drone strikes in yemen in pakistan You know even the photo I showed of the our young people we've worked with from kpk and fata I mean when you really listen to how they try to open a space of dialogue in an environment where friends and family members Have been killed by drones. It's really hard for them to actually raise that amplify a new narrative It's really really hard. So um, absolutely And I think that over time that that was what I said earlier I believe it is the moment for us to bring a level of scrutiny on some of these um tactics around the use of force Again, I would disaggregate, you know intelligence and Surveillance and all of that from actually the use of force So absolutely And of course I fully agree with that And but I think we also have to think about the indirect use of force like foreign military sales And think about our training equip programs and think about who are we Arming what kind of institutional capacity do they have to handle? These types of These types of assets that that they're looking for The first thing I always get asses. Can you get me tanks? Can you get me drones? Can you get me ammunition? And I always tell them Do you have a logistics management program? Do you have a human resource program, you know, and and we need to build up institutions? But we need to make sure so the There's there's indirect violence also that's that's perpetrated by these foreign military sales And I think that's also something to pay attention to The woman in the green shirt Kagan and charity and security network. I wanted to go a step further on the examining the effectiveness of the use of force to also raise another issue which is sanctions and the theory of isolation That by imposing sanctions or making it illegal to engage with listed armed Foreign terrorist organizations such as the prohibition on peace building with them Um, doesn't this also undermine effectiveness in the long term? And don't we need to look at some of the Assumptions behind the sanctions and isolation theory Yeah, no, that's an excellent point and there's many people in our organization that are You know really thinking about how can we how can we try and raise this? because certainly The kind of work that I've shared with you today has to Be available to everybody regardless of their viewpoint And to not be able to work with certain groups will prevent The efficiency and the effectiveness of what we need to do So I do think that this is an issue that more and more is being Raised within the circles of peace building organizations to see how might we find a win-win That looks at access to resources, but does not prevent access to dialogue and other types of activities in that way So very important Thank you for speaking with us today. My name is chelsea. I'm at GW I have a question specifically in regards to the usip training and education programs What sort of evaluation is occurring? To make sure that that theory of change is really playing out What sort of indicators are you looking forward to see if you're having the impact you hope to? Yeah, thanks is a very good question and we're working hard on actually on developing You know a pretty substantial Tool for evaluation as you know that takes a little bit of time. You have to have you know, we have a young program But we do have some The first thing we look at is we've had Request for repeat business, right? So in 2013 we got a whole bunch of countries together in Abu Dhabi And we're still engaging them and they're still coming and we're engaging more and more people and we're focusing now on It used to be cohorts of nine countries and now we're bringing what we're down to just one country and 20 people from the various provinces maybe and then the central government and and those kinds of things and there's just quite a bit of participation and There is a significant amount of of Changing of the mindset that has that has occurred so you can see that in the classroom when you you know In when you're having these discussions you can see that the material is is is Going in to people's heads. They're you know wrestling with it one of the the indicators that we have is that we Have people that have taken their plans back whether it's Our education program or policing programs are taking their plans back to their organization their institution and they're implementing them And but that's that's happening now as we speak So we'll have to wait a little bit longer to see what the actual impact of those programs But our impact we feel that we're you know, we're having An early early assessment is that we're having a significant impact on people because they have Being socializing the projects that they put together They're coming back to further them to deal Figure out what are the additional pieces of this plan that need to be put in here So we mitigate some of the resistance and those kinds of things. So for now, that's where we are because obviously we We have you know pre and post course evaluations and we assess what people are learning what we're giving them in terms of knowledge and We we see that we're Giving them, you know, they're they come away with from our courses with knowledge that they didn't have before We we see that in the evaluations But now on the ground that's a much more complicated situation. We always discuss, you know, are we planning? Are we evaluating ourselves and the impact we're having and people were bringing to us or are we? In you know evaluating the impact of those individuals on the ground and we're in the process of developing those tools Yes But it's it's for the webcast Oh I have kind of a big picture question It seems as though the violent extremism has been on the increase in recent years maybe 15 or 20 years Do we know if that's in fact true? Or does it just feel that way because the media broadcast it more or something? And if it is true that violent extremism is on the rise, do we know why? I mean I I just I think it's about branding Is that kind of an inappropriate answer? I mean, I think that we're branding violent extremism Because of who it's targeting And that extremism fascism Things that bring people into Ideologies that make them want to eliminate Masses of people or entire population groups is not a new phenomenon, right? And so is violent extremism Is that in a whole different subset as a genocide? Is that in a whole different subset as of you know, I I feel as though While I welcome the way and the focus on violent extremism as it's being framed today I think that we will be harming ourselves if we think that This is a completely new phenomenon that requires entirely new approaches and it's a new field I feel it's a new way of speaking about the particular way of violent extremism Largely with a religious underpinning is affecting certain parts of the world But I don't feel again it's and we have the advantage of you know, we address violent conflict in so many countries where Those dynamics are not present and yet the effect and the dynamic of that violent conflict is very very similar, right from You know From South Sudan. I was recently in Juba, right? Is that is that not violent extremism? What's happened there since December 2013? Absolutely and what is underpinning the extreme nature of that tribal Identity driven conflict is extreme violence And and it's and the tactics to overcome that We would draw on exactly the same toolbox here. We would just work with different stakeholders If I can add I think what's Made a little different the last 20 years is that the conflicts are much more complex And we understand them a lot less and we certainly don't know all the actors whom we should Whom we need to know The cold war ended and everything became a lot more complicated to understand and I think that's what Is driving perhaps part of the rationale behind your question And I think we we have to think about immigration too We have to think about the you know great migration of lots of people that are excluded in a lot in lots of different places There's the the the other is not only in some places anymore It's it's in a lot of different Areas and I think we I don't know. I think some of the research agenda really should look at what's what's happening and how do we how do we Help governments integrate Large amounts of immigrants. There's just a few people in the community Um, that's not going to be the same as if you have a large influx northern island has a significant problem of racism now against People you know Muslim people of Muslim faith people from Asia Because they're just becoming you know, they're coming in great numbers And we're so I think there's we should sort of probably pay attention to that that trend also Yes Hi, I'm Diane Perlman George Mason school for conflict analysis and resolution In the winter of 2002 and three my colleagues and I were all going on the radio and writing op-eds and lobbying congress Warning basically that everything that happened would happen that there would be You know multiplication increase and spreading of of terrorism and trauma So I mean, you know, I appreciate that we're addressing that And what we do a lot of the time I mean, I think all of your programs are wonderful and valuable and helpful and making a difference in people's lives but we're dealing with symptoms And rather than the the cause and effect so and You know, you mentioned that Radicalization is deeply personal, but it's also deeply and widely collective and there's a mass Mass psychology to it and you're addressing, you know grievance of stress and trauma, but they all came from, you know, a bigger primary cause so And there's also humiliation and the fear moral outrage lack of dignity identity Sovereignty and you know, these kind of basic really deep profound Needs that are that are non negotiable So in terms of policy, you know top-down policy, and we're still doing policies that are Escalating cycles of violence. I also agree with the woman who mentioned about Sanction so I wonder if there's any input into policy makers Into one is to not do that, but there are also Policies that we can engage in to try to try to reduce terror like I think the frame Counter-terrorism is also focused Some of it is like going after bad guys and it's concrete black and white thinking going after the symptom I prefer to use terror reduction and even things like Apologies, which were nowhere close to Being able to do or you know Collective processes that are healing In addition to stop Increasing the problem to try to heal what we've already done so Is anybody doing anything on those dimensions? I can't speak exactly concretely about who is doing what I would just say two things one is that I feel as though The opportunity of the CVE summit Does open a space to be able to for peace building organizations and universities and experts such as yourselves to actually begin to To offer recommendations around policies and the woman in the green shirt Question about that was it was an example of Okay, that's all fine But that won't be effective if we're still siloing off certain groups And I think some of the other things that you're saying there there is a moment. I think this year With the door that's been opened With the fact that it's going to come up again over the next few months and in September to actually as Peace building community to offer certain recommendations around this and I think that the door is open now It's for us to to step into that space I think if I may We've been in Afghanistan and Iraq now for 14 years And I think the ct community would readily acknowledge that it does not have all the answers and welcomes the inputs of civil society organizations NGOs Are people working in the non-securitized space? Yeah Okay Hi, my name is sarah smith. Um, bear with me. I was a bit late But can you elaborate on any problems or challenges or Excuse me any efforts that are currently underway for Kenya in light of the conflicts between the Somali ethnic Somali communities and the Kenyan forces I think we had a generic comment that one of the biggest challenge the biggest elephant in the room is the Is the question of political will and do governments have it? To continue working in the cve frame. I don't think anyone spoke specifically about Kenya I would just add that I think um It's it's very interesting because if you look at kenya right now um, the response was to bomb And now the response is to close the refugee camp And those two initiatives as we all know will radicalize people further So how can we as peace builders open a space to actually begin to have a conversation that recognizes people's trauma Recognizes people's sense of injustice recognizes that they feel as though they want to see people Suffering or punished and how can we transform that into a new discussion that brings everybody Including Somalis both Somali Kenyans and Somalis into this conversation What's the role of civil society in that and how can we enable the government to feel as though in engaging in that conversation? They're not going to lose face And that for me is the key challenge right now for kenya because it actually could go terribly wrong If uh, if if they decide they even said I think that they're going to Themselves deal with the refugee camp if the united nations doesn't do so. It's very extreme language And this can drive a lot further conflict in that region I think there was a question behind Thank you. Alice willman from the world bank We were part of the the cve summit at the white house in february and we're kind of trying to get our head around this issue Now a little bit more So what you've been talking about has been super useful and I was struck by what you said lina about this That you can bring a lot of the tools from Basic conflict analysis or conflict sensitivity to bear on this problem. And so my question would be is it Is it different at all or should we be encouraging our colleagues to just do conflict sensitive development? It seems to me and i'm not an expert on this at all But that there are two qualitative differences between what we're seeing today with al shabab and Boko haram and isis that are different than a lot of the armed conflict that we've seen in the past which Would be first the contagion effect that they have They spread so fast and they and they have people leaving, you know, perfectly good lives in developed countries to go join And the second difference would be that their stated ideology is all about Wiping an entire the whole idea of the modern state off the map So It's not like you can sit down and negotiate some kind of peace agreement that has territorial concessions or makes them into a political party The kinds of things that we had sort of done in the past with other types of violence So I'd just be interested to see what you see the difference. The real differences are in terms of how we understand it and how we approach it That's a great question And I think um, it's it's an opportunity to qualify also also in the comments I made earlier because I do believe overwhelmingly that there is A huge value of all the peace building learnings and best practices Uh in tackling violent extremism at the same time that dimension of it being global and that the sparks Are global and online and all of that is a phenomenon that we haven't tackled before But it's really at a tactical level So it's about how can we whereby we used to look at hate radio, right that has a transmitter How do you look at social media and look at those? Um at those dynamics? Um, and in terms of the ideology Again, I'm not the person to say that this is the worst ever ideology that has ever That we've known as a human race I think it is it is all the things that you described it as but the question is what is making people feel aligned towards that What is making people feel as though that is their way that they can express who they want to be in their lives? What is them you you said they're leaving a perfectly good life? Well, they don't think it's a perfectly good life and that's exactly why they're leaving And so it's by taking off that judgment and really understanding. Why are people actually rallying behind this? That we that we can learn and I I do think that there is a lot that can be learned from other Experiences around fascism and around genocide and around other extremism that we've known over the past few hundred years But the tactic of how it spreads and how it's organized is absolutely new And that's where we need to understand that the same old won't work in this new environment Why don't we take two final questions? The young woman in the black jacket and the woman standing next to me Hello, I'm lisa shirk at the alliance for peace building It seems to me there's three paradigms for thinking about how peace building Countering violent extremism and counterterrorism go together One is to say these are all trying to do the same thing and they're complementary And I think most of the media would portray that if they talk about peace building It's a complementary approach to counterterrorism What we've heard this morning is that it's also an alternative to So it's another path But in my mind and and some of what you've said really challenges that Really peace building is Really opposite that our theories of change are opposite and our analysis of what is driving extremism is opposite and often Whether it's in kenya with el shabab or in nigeria with boko haram or with isis The solution of counterterrorism actually undermines the peace building that is happening on the ground So these things are actually in conflict with each other. They're not complementary And I think that our peace building community We have been very gentle because we are doing our own research and our own innovation and piloting new projects But I think that we need to come to terms with the fact and really name that peace building is Really has a different analysis of the problem and a different theory of change And that counterterrorism is undermining peace building Yeah, no, thank you lisa. I mean, I think um, I think you're right that we've been very we've been very hesitant because as peace builders We feel as though we don't have these extraordinary results. We can't say things But I you know, I think us and many other organizations we are measuring what we do We measure it based on the theory of change and we're not enough demonstrating how these I sometimes don't call them counterterrorism because I feel like that's also sometimes used ambiguously But in the way that you've described counterterrorism or you know, the the bombing of Somalia or the trying to close a refugee camp that absolutely undermines the potential effectiveness of peace building and You know, we're not a field likes to sort of stand up and protest and denounce other actors So the question is how might we be able to open the conversation around that and enable Different people to understand that. I mean, I think that there is an openness to understanding that because people really do want to see Durable peace Even the government of Kenya, that's really what they want And so how to enable them to reflect on what might that action create and how can you again coming back to saving face How can you show strength in a way that is different? So it's uh, it's very important. I think it's really the the the next phase of what we need to look at in exploring this issue Yeah, I agree. It's it is an important question to be asking and I think it's you know, we really have to focus on violent extremism We have to focus on the word violence and it's violence And I think we find that there, you know, we've been dealing with that for a long time whatever the violence is um, ultimately violence is You know recognizable and and for And I think it's really important to think about it that way because a lot of times People think about violent extremism and thinking extremism by itself is bad Not necessarily extremism can actually lead to change and to positive change That's, you know, people on the fringes introduce new ideas and that's how we evolve So I think in the community, you really have to think about the idea of violence When we were starting to develop our programs. We asked ourselves, you know, what You know, so we were supposed to develop tools for giving countries severe capacity What are we going to give them right where we're giving them and it's the way to educate people In a way where they think critically for themselves. We're helping people The police think about how do we, you know, not exacerbate, you know, violence and and but we've been doing that Those solutions have been there for a long time And it just seems that in the work that that I've been doing It seems that we're taking various models like community policing and community oriented policing and those kinds of things Which has been, you know, right now that's sort of the way forward Um in the solutions, but it's really about the violence. It's not so much about the extremism And I think there there we really need to be having much more conversations about that I have one final question Hello, my name is Ariel Emer with department of state So each of you had talked about incorporating women into your programming And I wonder if you could provide a little bit more detail about how women can contribute to cve and what challenges you've faced in your efforts Women that for example for police women can de-escalate a situation much better than men That's most police departments say that that's not my quote And so bringing women into the security forces into the police is a very significant Source of change will really make a difference And police conduct changes when there's a woman that's part of a patrol or an operation And then we also need women at the strategic level So that they when in planning of operations and planning of responses and planning of of new strategies Those actually make Look different when women are involved. So I would say that that's the one thing that is really really important But it's also very very challenging as you know, we have You know recruiting women in the security forces and specifically the police is first and foremost dangerous to the woman In in some places and so it's really important To do this sensitively and to get buy-in for it before you you do these kinds of things. So that's that's the very first You know piece that that's that I would I would offer that it's just bringing women into Their different different skills their different approach to violence and their Sort of you know in these types of environments, they have a different aura They they are seen differently by people that would engage Whether it's you know mass protests and violence and those kinds of things women actually have been able to de-escalate situations and to help Sort of control the way, you know, male police officers are engaging male police officers will will behave differently And so the the outcome becomes different So the I think that we're bringing women into the police force will actually help this radicalization Problem that the police has I just add it's it's an important question So a couple things that we recognize In our work is that just in understanding the drivers of violent extremism are very locally and Based in the context equally understanding women as recruiters Crities or influencers is very very context specific So the first approach that we take is to actually understand What's the nature of the nexus between women's role in society and the recruitment or influence around violent extremism And then the second interesting question that we're exploring is there's actually been a lot of work that Positions women in a certain way in the peace building field So we're asking ourselves the question are all of those assumptions Valuable moving forward for this kind of work or are there other dynamics at play and how might we better understand You know issues around vulnerability to extremist narratives within women and girls What might we understand about the way that women in certain societies are more able to access social media? than in other contexts and so We're actually at a point of really asking ourselves some questions. Yes We have women religious leaders that we engage with in the countries that I mentioned absolutely But I feel as though the identification of really what that theory of change looks like moving forward is It remains to be explored further Thank you very very much. I'd like to invite you to thank our panelists and before you go I think you were each given a A feedback card if you could please fill it out. That would be much appreciated. Thank you very very much