OSCE holds joint interactive webinar with Kofi Annan Foundation on role of youth in inter-faith dialogue and preventing and countering extremism

Over 70 participants from across the OSCE area took part in an online interactive webinar on The Role of Youth in Inter-faith Dialogue in the Context of Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism (VERLT) on 22 February 2021. The OSCE and the Kofi Annan Foundation’s Extremely Together Initiative organized the event with support from the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Secretariat’s Adviser on Youth and Security.

The webinar is part of the OSCE Leaders against Intolerance and Violent Extremism (LIVE) Initiative, a flagship training programme that seeks to build capacity and promote context-specific efforts against violent extremism that have been developed and led by civil society at the grassroots level.

The webinar facilitated interactions between LIVE beneficiaries and expert practitioners who advance inter-faith dialogue to foster social cohesion. Participants discussed effective strategies for engaging youth, analyzed challenges and collected recommendations for their own activities.

The event was part of a series of interactive webinars launched by the OSCE in December 2019 to continuously build capacities of LIVE beneficiaries. Through spearheading dialogue with experts from various geographical and cultural contexts, the interactive webinars aim to connect LIVE beneficiaries to a broader network of practitioners and create a platform for the sharing of lessons learned.

“Encouraging the concept of dialogue in early childhood education can go a long way in learning about social cohesion and promoting religious tolerance and mutual understanding among youth,” said Jonah Obajeun, founder of the Tolerance Academy in Nigeria.

The OSCE’s LIVE Initiative consists of three different training courses tailored to youth, women and community leaders across the OSCE area. From 2018 to 2021, the Action against Terrorism Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE field operations, delivered a series of LIVE train-the-trainer seminars tailored for South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as supported OSCE field operations in their implementation of national LIVE training courses.

Extremely Together is a youth-led peace-building and networking initiative by the Kofi Annan Foundation. Extremely Together started with ten young leaders, chosen by Kofi Annan thanks to their proven track-records in preventing and countering violent extremism. The Initiative has local chapters in Somalia, Uganda, Pakistan, the Philippines, with more in development. Extremely Together brings young leaders from around the world together to learn from each other, build peace and prevent violent extremism — globally and in their communities.