UNESCO will launch April 24 a pilot project: “Youth Preventing Violent Extremism” in four Arab countries, namely Jordan, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Funded by the UN Counter-terrorism Centre (UNCCT) and Canada, the project seeks to empower youth in the fight against extremists and fanatics through education programs that help build learners’ resilience to violent extremism and mitigate the drivers of the phenomena.
This initiative also aims to promote education as a tool to prevent extremism and strengthen the capacities of national education systems (policies, teachers, educational contents) to appropriately and effectively contribute to national prevention efforts.
This includes equipping learners, of all ages, and notably young women and men, with the knowledge, values, attitudes and behaviors, which foster responsible global citizenship, critical thinking, empathy and the ability to take action against violent extremism.
The move is a comprehensive response to the threats of violent extremism by the UNESCO, which helps education-policy makers plan and implement effective and appropriate education-related actions at different levels (secondary, technical and vocational training, higher education).
This work includes also supporting teachers in managing classroom discussions on prevention of radicalization, adopting inclusive and conducive approach, respecting dialogue, open discussion and critical thinking.
The UNESCO project enhances the teachers’ skills on how to address violent extremism through Global Citizenship Education (GCED), which works by empowering learners of all ages to understand that these are global, not local issues and to become active promoters of more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive, secure and sustainable societies.
GCED is a strategic area of UNESCO’s Education Sector program and builds on the work of Peace and Human Rights Education. It aims to instill in learners the values, attitudes and behaviors that support creativity, innovation, and commitment to peace, human rights and sustainable development.
