Barcelona, Spain – CCCPA participated in the two-day Expert Meeting jointly organized by the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and UN Women, from 18-19 July 2017.

The meeting brought together a group of experts and practitioners in areas of peace and security, and preventing radicalization and extremism, with the aim of identifying priorities on the ground, and discussing approaches and lessons learned from dealing with gender-specific drivers of radicalization and extremism in the region.

Speaking on a panel about the role of women in sustaining peace and development approaches to preventing violent extremism (PVE), CCCPA Director Ashraf Swelam highlighted the importance of aligning PVE and reintegration and rehabilitation (RR) efforts under the broader umbrella of the sustaining peace agenda. He elaborated on CCCPA’s training program on preventing radicalization and extremism leading to terrorism (PRELT), designed to empower local community leaders to construct and deliver inclusive peace narratives, based on the tolerant teachings and interpretations of Islam.