Voices of LIVE: how civil society leaders approach the prevention of violent extremism

Since 2016, the OSCE’s Leaders against Intolerance and Violent Extremism (LIVE) has brought together practitioners in the field of preventing and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (P/CVERLT), to participate in a training programme to refine their technical skills. After having completed the LIVE training programme, participants are now working with local communities to help educate the next generation of practitioners.

Their engagement focuses on the nexus between women’s empowerment and human rights, social inclusion and youth work. Hear directly from the LIVE graduates themselves on how they chose to approach the challenge.

Women’s rights

The Pleiades organization, an initiative founded by Meral Musli Tajroska in North Macedonia, aims to show that women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution is not only meaningful but also necessary.

In her work, Meral advocates for a more holistic approach to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and active roles for women and girls therein. “It is my mission to ensure that sustainable peace is achieved through the promotion of and respect for women’s rights,” she highlights.

Meral and her team have been also promoting a human rights-based approach to the reintegration of women returning from ISIL/Daesh in Iraq and Syria and their children.

Comic art

Malika Achilova is an author and illustrator for Oogway comics, the first publisher of comics in Tajikistan. She hopes that the artwork she creates conveys her thoughts and emotions: “I strongly believe that art has a power to convey messages of strength and resilience, and turn individuals away from the pathway of being radicalized to violence,” says Malika.

Although Malika started working in the animation field only recently, she and her team can already celebrate reaching the finals of the NASA space apps challenge, which tasks participants from around the world to create solutions that address challenges on Earth and in space around a specific theme. “I hope that my work will touch the souls of others. I am madly proud of my team and I love what I do.”

Human rights

An experienced human rights activist and researcher in North Macedonia, Afrodita Musliu is currently focusing on building the resilience of local communities against P/CVE.

In 2017, Afrodita founded “Nexus – Civil Concept”, an association of citizens. As its executive director, she runs the organization’s Program for Prevention and Building Community Resilience against Radicalization that Leads to Violent Extremism.

Sociology

Sociologist Adilia Temirkanova works on preventing violent extremism in Kyrgyzstan through youth empowerment initiatives. She is a member of the Global Shapers Community (class of 2022), which represents a network of young people driving youth leadership towards sustainable community development and positive change.

“I have always stood my ground for those in need of support and understanding. This way of life has brought me closer to the very core of the issues we are currently facing within our society,” she says.

She believes that by promoting tolerance and equality we can build communities that are more resilient to violent extremism.

Promoting Trust

A former police officer and intelligence analyst, Ergys Muzhaqi conducts training on preventing and countering violent extremism for civil society representatives in Albania and other countries in South-Eastern Europe. Through his work as a security specialist as well as a civil society activist, Ergys has been able to engage in building trust and coordinating between the security sector and the communities.

Through his work at the Inter Religious Institute, Ergys and his colleagues help communities to strengthen mutual respect between people, regardless of their religious affiliation.

Public education

Farida Mashanlo teaches Social Science in school in Kyrgyzstan. She is directly responsible for the development of her school’s curriculum on preventing violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism and promoting tolerance among students.

“I see how parents are often so busy trying to put food on the table that they do not have time to talk to their children. I don’t want young people to pick up the answers in unsafe spaces, or worse, become the puppets of someone’s violent agenda,” says Farida.