OSCE and League of Arab States promote guidebook on gender-aware approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism

The Arabic language version of the OSCE guidebook on “Understanding the Role of Gender in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization That Lead to Terrorism (P/CVERLT): Good Practices for Law Enforcement” was launched in Cairo on 17 February 2020. The guidebook, the first of its kind, is the result of a two-year collaborative effort by experts on gender, the security sector and countering violent extremism based on case studies from across the OSCE area. The event was organized jointly by the OSCE and the League of Arab States (LAS).

 Eduard Sulo, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania to Egypt, representing the 2020 OSCE Chairmanship said: “The Albanian Chairmanshipstrongly believes that a precondition for human rights and security is the existence of gender equality. A part of achieving this means having gender-balanced and gender-sensitive security providers.”

More than 50 representatives of governments from the region, NGOs as well as international organizations gathered at the League of Arab States Headquarters to discuss the role of gender in preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT). The OSCE is a pioneer in advancing gender-responsive approaches to violent extremism and terrorism, especially with a focus on law enforcement.

The First Secretary of the Embassy of the Italian Republic to Cairo, Marco Cardoni, stated that ”A better understanding of the role of gender in this context can improve terrorism prevention policies by deconstructing stereotypical perceptions of women’s and men’s roles in terrorism and counter-terrorism.” “All these issues are comprehensively addressed in the Guidebook, which therefore constitutes a relevant added value to our work,” he added. The Organization works extensively to support the development and implementation of impactful and safe policies and programmes to prevent and counter violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism in the OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.

The guidebook, which is available in English, Russian and Arabic at www.osce.org/secretariat/420563 was funded by Norway and Italy.

“True security is inseparable from equality and human rights. By integrating a gender perspective in all our efforts to prevent and combat VERLT, we can reach for a society that is not only more just and prosperous, but also more secure”, stressed Maria Hunskaar, the Second Secretary of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Cairo.

In addition to today’s guidebook launch, the guidebook series on P/CVERLT includes:

• The Role of Civil Society in P/CVERLT (tailored to the regions of South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia respectively)
• Understanding Referral Mechanisms in P/CVERLT
• Non-Custodial Rehabilitation and Reintegration in P/CVERLT
• Preventing Terrorism and Countering VERLT – A Community Policing Approach