Mayor Andy Berke of Chattanooga, TN, speaking at State of the City 2018 Christchurch, New Zealand during Friday prayers. Sri Lanka during Easter services. Poway, California at the conclusion of Passover. The recent global surge of hate and extremism, resulting in the killing of scores of religious worshippers during dates of congregation, has had an…
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Pluralism, defined simply as respect for diversity, is an integral concept in peaceful and inclusive societies. How to foster and measure the level of pluralism in a community however, has often proven difficult. With racially- and religiously-motivated violence making prominent headlines recently – with the New Zealand Mosque attack, Sri Lanka Easter bombings, and San…
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In ‘The Human Library’, people are books. Designed as a way to challenge stereotypes and prejudices, each ‘book’ is an opportunity for people to share their personal stories with the readers to foster discussions on sensitive topics. These books are given categories which often provoke strong reactions, such as ‘Molested’, ‘HIV’, ‘Homeless’, or ‘Refugee,’ which…
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We are excited to celebrate the recent launch of ISD’s Head of Strategy, Farah Pandith’s new book, ‘How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries, Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist Threat’. As the former first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities under Secretaries Clinton and Kerry at the U.S. Department…
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We are delighted to welcome two new managers to the Strong Cities Network team. Patricia Crosby and Simeon Dukic joined last month and will be leading the SCN’s work in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and the Western Balkans and Central Asia, respectively. Together they bring a tremendous amount of regional expertise and insight that…
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Authors: Rubina Abu Zeinab, National Coordinator for Preventing Violent Extremism; Merete Juhl, H.E. Ambassador of Denmark to Lebanon; Khadije Nasser, Senior Regional Manager, SCN. Last week Lebanon conducted its third iteration of the national consultative workshop on Preventing Violent Extremism with special focus on urban/rural development and engaging local communities. Representatives of governmental entities, municipalities,…
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On behalf of the Strong Cities Network team, we wish to express our sincerest condolences to those whose lives were taken during the Christchurch attack and all those affected by it. This unspeakably cruel act of violence and hate is beyond comprehension and we are at loss for words. We mourn in unison with the…
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Lebanon has the led the way in the MENA region, having been one of the first countries to establish a national PVE unit, which developed a national strategy aimed at the prevention of violent extremism (PVE) across the country. The strategy’s nine pillars include crucial strategic topics such as good governance, dialogue and economic development….
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Our new South Asia Regional Hub Page has just launched, which highlights the SCN’s work in the South Asia region. This includes the Regional Practitioner’s Workshop in Kolkata, India, as well as our city consultations in Pakistan and Bangladesh, city exchanges and Local Innovation Grants. If you are interested in our work in other regions, we have…
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As part of the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence’s two weeks of activities, the Ottawa MERIT Program and British Columbia’s Shift programme brought together similar programmes from across Canada for a discussion on approaches to vulnerability and protective factors, participant criteria and risk assessment. The SCN facilitated two sessions on best…
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Facilitate systematic sharing of knowledge, expertise and lessons learned on building social cohesion and community resilience to prevent violent extremism across cities on an international basis, through both regional workshops and international conferences.
Raise awareness of existing policy, programming, and practice through a dynamic and searchable ‘Online Information Hub’, providing an extensive library of existing local approaches and responses to prevent violent extremism.
Directly support cities to develop strategic frameworks and capabilities to build resilience that safeguard the rights of their local communities, including through capacity building seminars and interactive training modules on themes of mutual interest.
Directly seed the development of new and innovative projects through ‘Local Innovation Grants’, providing support for cities on innovative project development and support for the transfer of promising projects that could be adapted across different locations.
Directly support cities to develop strategic frameworks and capabilities to build resilience that safeguard the rights of their local communities, including through capacity building seminars and interactive training modules on themes of mutual interest.
Provide a global platform to enable cities to jointly voice their needs and those of their communities, to inform national and international decision-making on preventing the spread and growth of violent extremism.
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