Policy, Violent extremism, Peace 

NATO Science for Peace and Security Series - E: Human and Societal Dynamics 

The focus of international and national strategies for countering
terrorism in the past decade has shifted from using hard security measures alone to
combat terrorism, to a more multi-sectoral, comprehensive approach, which also
includes more preventive strategies known as countering violent extremism (CVE).
For example, multilateral organizations such as the United Nations are focusing on
CVE through Pillar 1 of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which
addresses “conditions conducive” to the spread of terrorism. This relatively new
approach is also apparent through the formation of the Global Counter-Terrorism
Forum (GCTF) as a multilateral platform for addressing counter-terrorism issues,
and the subsequent establishment of Hedayah, the International Center of
Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism, as the first institution to solely
focus its efforts in long-term, preventive measures to foster resilience against
violent extremism and terrorism. The CVE programs and policies that are
emerging both out of the UN, the GCTF, Hedayah and the broader international
community are based on an established basic methodology that 1) identifies push
and pull factors that lead to recruitment or radicalization into violent extremism,
and 2) designs interventions that specifically eliminating these root causes. This
paper explores the international framework supporting the development and
implementation of targeted interventions, specifically to minimize youth
recruitment and radicalization into violent extremism through two program areas:
1) CVE through formal educational institutions, 2) building community resilience
through families and communities. This paper also describes the recent work by
Hedayah and other international bodies in these two program areas, and
recommends potential next steps and ways forward to make these programs more
 

13p.; 24 cm