The Role of Education in Countering Violent Extremism

On 18-19 September 2013, the Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation (CGCC) and Hedayah co-hosted in New York City an expert roundtable on the “Role of Education in Countering Violent Extremism.” The meeting brought together a group of policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to discuss challenges and best practices related to efforts to counter violent extremism through education. The meeting included experts from the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the United States. In order to inform current and future CVE programming and good practices, participants shared experiences and lessons learned from their fields of work, including sports and culture, community engagement, and rehabilitation. Building on this meeting, and to raise awareness and policy level support for the topic, Hedayah and the Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations hosted in New York City a high-level meeting on 25 September 2013 on the sidelines of the 68th UN General Assembly. On this occasion, CGCC’s Executive Director, Alistair Millar, presented his remarks on the role of educational institutions as incubators and mitigators of violent extremism and shared key findings from the earlier expert roundtable. Hedayah’s CEO, Maqsoud Kruse, also introduced the topic of sports, arts and culture in education, and emphasized that it was important to provide youth with positive alternatives to violent extremism. The combination of the high-level meeting and the expert-level meeting set the stage for future activities and programs on this subject.