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MENA Regional Hub: Scaling City-Led Action to Prevent and Respond to Hate, Violent Extremism and Polarisation in the Middle East and North Africa

Publication Date:

14/01/2025

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City-Led PreventionMENA Regional HubMulti-Actor CollaborationOnline HarmsYouth Empowerment and Engagement

Summary

The Strong Cities Network’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Hub held its third regional event – ‘Scaling City-Led Action to Prevent and Respond to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)’ – on 19 – 20 November 2024 in Amman, Jordan. This regional innovations and solutions exchange, organised in partnership with the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), included mayors and other local government officials, national authorities and civil society organisations (CSOs) from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as partners, such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), FHI 360 and others.

The two-day workshop enabled local governments from across MENA to share promising practices aimed at preventing hate, violent extremism and polarisation and, more broadly, building resilient and inclusive communities. It also built on the Regional Hub’s previous work in the region, including two regional workshops and various technical support activities, for example, national-local cooperation (NLC) dialogues in Iraq, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as city-specific technical assistance, such as support to the City of Fes (Morocco) on youth engagement in hate prevention, and support to Great Amman Municiaplity (GAM) on crisis management and response. Mayors, governors and other city officials who took part in these activities shared how they have contextualised and applied the practices they learned, providing counterparts with practical guidance and showcasing the value of city-city learning and exchange. Key practice areas featured included multi-stakeholder approaches to prevention, city-led youth engagement, NLC, digital resilience against online threats, urban design and planning as a tool to strengthen social cohesion, and city-led crisis management and response. Participants further explored how cities are addressing pressing challenges that impact community cohesion, such as climate change and demographic shifts, including due to increased migration.

In his opening remarks, Hatem El Hamlan, Deputy City Manager for Community Development, Greater Amman Municipality (Jordan), outlined the City’s comprehensive prevention strategy. He emphasised the importance of elevating marginalised voices and fostering bottom-up approaches to urban planning and infrastructure development that promote social cohesion and resilience.

Angela Martini, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation in Jordan, highlighted the urgency of strengthening connections among cities in the region so they learn from each other, as well as finding ways to address the socio-economic drivers of violent extremism. She noted that ongoing conflicts and economic challenges have intensified these challenges, making the workshop especially timely.

Zouhair Racheha, Head of the Strong Cities MENA Regional Hub,reinforced the significance of the cities sharing challenges and good practices in addressing these threats to community cohesion and how the workshop offered an opportunity to reflect on the Regional Hub’s accomplishments in 2024 and preview its 2025 agenda, which prioritises scaling city-led prevention initiatives across the MENA region.

Key Takeaways

• Invest in Multi-Actor Approaches: Establishing and/or strengthening existing formal or informal mechanisms for regular dialogue, joint planning and resource-sharing among local and national governments, CSOs, international partners, the private sector and community actors can significantly enhance a city’s ability to address root causes of hate and violent extremism.
• Leveraging Existing Structures: Identifying and utilising existing local government structures and mechanisms, such as neighbourhood committees, youth councils and municipal consultation processes, can serve as effective ways of tackling hate, violent extremism and polarisation. These platforms offer valuable opportunities for local governments to build upon rather than create parallel structures.
• Urban Planning for Social Cohesion: Urban planning frameworks present opportunities to embed prevention and social cohesion considerations into infrastructure development and public space design. For example, cities across the region are increasingly leveraging urban farming projects, public gardens and recreational facilities for community engagement, dialogue and social integration.
• Youth Engagement and Empowerment: Cities are focusing on meaningful youth engagement and empowerment as key components of building resilient communities. Through dedicated youth councils, sports programmes, cultural initiatives, entrepreneurship support, peer-to-peer networks and skills development programmes, local governments are addressing youth marginalisation and creating opportunities for young people to actively participate in and shape their communities. The success of these initiatives highlights the importance of providing multiple pathways for youth to engage with local government that align with young people’s diverse interests and aspirations.
• Capacity-Building and Technical Support: Cities would benefit from enhanced, tailored capacity-building and technical support to strengthen crisis preparedness and response capabilities. Establishing specialised committees, integrating expertise at the city or council level and/or developing adaptation plans, communication strategies and coordination mechanisms can help municipalities better manage displacement, climate impacts and other emerging challenges that can impact community cohesion.
• Digital Transformation: Many cities across the region are using digital platforms to interact with the communities, solicit community feedback and facilitate service delivery. While online platforms have proven useful to reach out to communities, local governments need technical support to enhance digital literacy, develop strategic communications capabilities, analyse and detect online harms and hate speech, and effectively counter mis/disinformation.

Threats & Key Challenges

Participants highlighted that, while in recent years, Tunisia has largely avoided terrorist attacks, the threat of violent extremism, particularly spread online, remains ongoing. Discussions highlighted a number of factors contributing to vulnerabilities to this threat. These include limited job opportunities and stark economic inequalities between urban and rural areas and lack of inclusion of youth and minorities in government decision-making processes, which can make these groups feel marginalised and vulnerable.

Participants highlighted several challenges affecting stability and social cohesion in the region. Common threads emerged around digital threats, youth disengagement from civic and political life, pressures of migration and displacement on infrastructure and community cohesion and resource constraints.

Cities across the region are grappling with the rapid spread of mis/disinformation, which can fuel offline tensions, and often lack robust monitoring systems for detecting and responding to online threats and harms. Participants pointed to the pressing need for support in building technical capabilities to monitor online threats and implement effective city-led response strategies. Further, many municipalities are experiencing unprecedented levels of displacement due to ongoing conflicts and climate change impacts, which strain local infrastructure and service delivery. Accurate data on community needs and displaced populations is often lacking, hindering development of evidence-based prevention strategies. Youth disengagement also remains a persistent challenge, with limited economic opportunities and participation in decision-making processes, leaving young people vulnerable to violent extremist narratives in some contexts.

Finally, participating cities pointed to the limited municipal resources and capabilities for prevention work and shared that the coordination between different levels of government and CSOs, particularly during emergencies and other crises, remains a challenge.

The ensuing discussions surfaced several steps that could be taken to help address the above-mentioned challenges. For example, participants 1) encouraged local governments to develop youth engagement frameworks, as well as inclusive public spaces, as essential hubs for fostering dialogue, tolerance and social cohesion, as well as capacity building, noting how such spaces provide valuable opportunities for youth engagement and positive community involvement; 2) called for capacity-building initiatives to enhance local authorities’ ability to govern effectively and deliver effective prevention programmes; 3) emphasised the need for additional resources to address infrastructure gaps, support civic engagement and fund programmes that benefit vulnerable groups; 4) stressed the need for municipalities to develop crisis management strategies to handle natural disasters, security threats and public health emergencies, emphasising how strengthening the capacity of local governments to respond to these challenges will be key to building resilient, inclusive and thriving communities.

Key Themes

1. From Online Harms to Offline Resilience – Tackling Hate and Mis/Disinformation

With increasing digital connectivity and the pervasive use of social media, cities across the MENA region face the dual challenges of harnessing online platforms for community engagement and information dissemination, while mitigating their misuse for spreading hate speech and mis/disinformation, which can threaten social cohesion. Participants discussed a variety of municipal strategies aimed at mitigating these harms and fostering resilience through digital tools and community-driven initiatives.

For example, the Greater Amman Municipality (Jordan) showcased its two-phase communication system, designed to counter mis/disinformation and hate speech with speed and transparency. See below

To prevent offline impacts of online mis/disinformation, Sabha Municipality (Libya) complements digital monitoring of social media platforms with regular community dialogue sessions to pre-emptively address sources of tension. Once a threat is identified through the monitoring system, the City sets up a community dialogue to discuss the issue and answer any questions. By directly engaging with the community, Sabha seeks to minimise the potential of online mis/disinformation to spread and impact the community. This strategy underscores the importance of having trusted local platforms in place that the City can call upon in times of tensions and conflict.

Media literacy emerged as a cornerstone in combating online harms. UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy (MIL) initiative emphasised the need to equip citizens, particularly young people, with critical skills to evaluate media content, identify mis/disinformation and challenge harmful narratives. Participants were encouraged to integrate media literacy into educational curricula as part of a wider effort to foster informed and resilient communities, reducing their vulnerability to hate speech and mis/disinformation.

Although technology-driven solutions were central to the discussions, participants acknowledged that addressing online harms requires more than technical innovation. Trust-building with the community, and community engagement more broadly, were recognised as equally crucial components. As the representative from Sabha observed, “the challenges cities face online are not just about technology—they require both online and offline responses that strengthen community bonds while building digital resilience”. This sentiment underscores the need for holistic strategies that integrate digital tools with localised, community-focused efforts to combat online threats. 

Greater Municipality of Amman (Jordan)

• Challenge: Amman faces significant challenges from mis/disinformation and online hate due to its diverse population, including a large refugee community and its location in a politically-sensitive region. With more than five million followers across its 34 communication channels, the Municipality required an efficient system to counter false narratives while maintaining public trust and transparency in its services.
  
  
• Approach: Amman’s digital strategy integrates artificial intelligence (AI) -powered social media analysis, keyword tracking and content moderation to ensure a positive online environment. The Municipality employs a two-phase communication approach: first, responding within 15 minutes to contain mis/disinformation, followed by detailed, data-verified clarifications. This effort is coordinated with national initiatives such as حقك تعرف (Your Right to Know), enabling rapid information verification to counter false narratives effectively.
  
  In addition, Amman promotes responsible social media usage through public guidelines to foster constructive online discourse. The Municipality is also considering the use of advanced electronic monitoring and analysis systems to enable it to track and address online threats in reasonable time. As part of this initiative, it is testing the award-winning Amman is Listening platform, a verified digital space for community engagement across the Municipality’s 22 neighbourhoods.
  
  
• Impact: Amman’s comprehensive digital strategy demonstrates the Municipality’s focus on preventing online harms and enhancing community resilience. By combining monitoring systems, media literacy and education, and inclusive engagement tools, the Municipality offers a model for other MENA cities facing similar challenges.

Learn more

2. City-Led Youth Empowerment and Engagement in Prevention of Hate, Violent Extremism and Polarisation

Facing socio-economic challenges, limited employment opportunities and a sense of exclusion, many young people across the MENA region are vulnerable to narratives of hate and violent extremism. In response, a growing number of local governments are reaching out to youth and engaging them in building solutions to challenges of hate and violent extremism, including through creative programmes, inclusive governance structures and locally-tailored initiatives.

Participants emphasised the importance of addressing youth disengagement as a critical factor in preventing hate and violent extremism. Municipal youth councils have emerged as particularly effective platforms for meaningful engagement. Mohamed Maaitah, Mayor of Karak Municipality (Jordan) shared how Karak’s Youth Municipal Council operates as the youth arm of the Municipal Council with a parallel structure. This approach goes beyond symbolic representation, as young council members actively participate in designing local initiatives, developing practical proposals and representing their generation’s voice in decision-making processes.

Hamzeh Al Zghoul, Mayor of Ajloun Municipality (Jordan) shared how involving youth in decision-making processes has led to tangible outcomes in the Municipality. For example, by ensuring youth participation in town hall meetings and municipal strategy development, Ajloun has developed youth employment, educational and other programmes that directly address local youth needs and priorities. This success has led Ajloun to adopt consultation with youth and marginalised communities more broadly as a standard approach when developing new strategies and initiatives.

A number of Moroccan cities have pioneered innovative solutions through their proximity facilities programme, which includes development of sports facilities, libraries, cultural centres and youth houses. For example, Lahcen Ben Mohamed, Director of Services for the City of Agadir (Morocco)shared how the City has, through this initiative, transformed unused urban spaces into vibrant youth centres that combine sports, cultural activities and training programmes. Beyond providing recreational spaces, these facilities are used by the City and CSOs for educational and youth leadership training programmes that create opportunities for youth to become active citizens, while also building bridges between municipalities and young residents in different neighbourhoods.

The Greater Amman Municipality (Jordan) has strengthened trust between its youngest constituents and local authorities by integrating young people into formal decision-making processes through its democratically-elected Children Municipal Council. The Council aims to enhance students’ participation in public life and enable them to express their opinions on topics that concern them, such as education, self-expression and respect for other opinions. Similarly, Fes Municipality (Morocco) engages youth through hackathons focused on urban challenges, where young people come up with the ideas and solutions to these challenges, while also developing problem-solving and leadership skills.

Participants shared that in contexts where direct engagement on policy issues may not be possible, engaging young people through cultural and art programmes has shown benefits. Several municipalities, such as Sabha (Libya), Sidi Bourouis (Tunisia) and Tel Afar (Iraq), have successfully used youth-led cultural projects to create safe spaces for expression and dialogue around sensitive issues.

Partnerships between local governments, educational institutions and community organisations have also emerged as crucial for sustained youth engagement and empowerment. SPARK’s Networks of Change programme establishes safe spaces in schools and centres of excellence in universities across multiple cities in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.Through intensive training, awareness campaigns and leadership and entrepreneurship development, the programme paves the way for Kurdish youth to actively participate in social, economic and political life.

Participants agreed that when local governments invest in creative programs and inclusive platforms, and see young people as essential partners in building social cohesion, they can effectively address the root causes of youth disengagement while cultivating the next generation of leaders committed to fostering resilient communities.

Youth Advisory Council, City of Fes (Morocco)

• Challenge: Fes faced significant challenges with youth disengaging from civic and political processes and feeling marginalised. This lack of engagement, combined with a high unemployment rate, increased the vulnerability of youth to radicalisation to violence. To address these issues, the City decided to implement structured mechanisms for meaningful youth involvement and ensure sustainable engagement in prevention initiatives.
  
  
• Approach: With support from the MENA Regional Hub, Fes is developing a Youth Advisory Council framework to institutionalise youth participation in local governance. In September 2024, the City Council, in partnership with local youth associations and the Association of Moroccan Mayors, and supported by the Strong Cities MENA Regional Hub, undertook a comprehensive mapping of needs and priorities of young people. Through nine focus group discussions, the City Council engaged more than 100 young people from across Fes to identify youth-related issues, concerns and expectations of the proposed Youth Council. These sessions provided crucial insights for shaping the framework to meet needs of local youth.
  
  
• Impact: Although still in development, the framework has already fostered positive changes in the relationship between youth and local authorities. Regular dialogues have improved mutual understanding and trust, while the participatory design process has mobilised youth associations and generated momentum for sustained engagement. By institutionalising youth participation through a formal council structure, Fes is creating a model for youth inclusion that can inspire similar efforts in other cities across Morocco and the MENA region.

Learn more

3. Importance of Multi-Actor Collaboration in Addressing Complex Challenges

Multi-actor collaboration emerged as a cross-cutting theme throughout the discussions, with participating cities highlighting its crucial role in addressing complex challenges such as impacts of migration, internal displacement and climate change on social cohesion, as well as challenges of hate and violent extremism. Participants emphasised that no single actor, whether a municipality, civil society or national government, can address these challenges alone. They underscored how coordinated efforts that harness diverse mandates, resources, expertise and perspectives are essential to do doing so and, more broadly, to fostering community resilience and cohesion.

Participants emphasised the necessity of multi-actor collaboration in tackling the effects of migration and internal displacement, which often strain local infrastructure, and in turn exacerbate inter-communal tensions. Bassel El Hajj, Municipal Council Member from the City of Tripoli (Lebanon),shared how Tripoli worked together with the national government and international organisations to facilitate dialogues between displaced populations and host communities, which helped reduce tensions and foster trust between the two communities. The dialogues were also an opportunity for both communities to air their concerns to the local and national government and discuss possible solutions.

In Libya, the Municipality of Swani bin Adam coordinates with national authorities, humanitarian organisations and local community leaders to manage internal displacement by ensuring data-sharing and coordinated response mechanisms. Their approach includes maintaining updated databases of displaced populations and serving as a central coordinating point for service delivery through partnerships with various stakeholders, including humanitarian organisations.

Municipalities across the MENA region further discussed the importance of multi-actor collaboration in dealing with environmental challenges, such as water scarcity, extreme weather and resource competition. Greater Amman Municipality (Jordan)shared how its collaboration with national and international partners had enabled the implementation of green infrastructure projects and water conservation initiatives in a region where water scarcity is a significant challenge. These efforts address immediate environmental concerns while also ensuring more equitable access to resources, in turn reducing community tensions and conflicts over limited resources. Amman’s approach to environmental challenges shows how multi-actor collaboration can address both immediate concerns and contribute to strengthening social cohesion in the long-term.

Crisis management and emergency response also emerged as an area where multi-actor collaboration is essential. For example, the City of Sidi Bourouis (Tunisia) established a dedicated Crisis Management Unit that maintains active communication channels between the Governor’s office, local district councils and community stakeholders, ensuring that relevant information is shared across different departments and with partners. The Crisis Management Unit also serves as a central decision-making point in case of crisis or emergency.

Cities in Iraq have developed formal multi-actor frameworks for the prevention of violent extremism through their Preventing Violent Extremism Subcommittees, which are mandated by the National Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism. These local committees bring together municipal authorities, security actors, CSOs, and faith and community leaders to design and implement prevention initiatives. The committees work in close coordination with the National Committee for Countering Violent Extremism (NCCVE) and other national ministries while maintaining local ownership of prevention efforts. For instance, in the City of Halabja, these committees have successfully led the implementation of a local plan of action for prevention in collaboration with various government departments, CSOs, community leaders, schools and health professionals.

Throughout the discussions, the participants emphasised the importance of trust, shared goals and inclusive representation in multi-actor frameworks. Stakeholders agreed that meaningful collaboration requires clear communication, the alignment of priorities and the commitment of all actors involved.

Local Prevention Network: A Multi-Actor Framework for PVE, Zarqa (Jordan)

• Challenge: Zarqa, Jordan’s second-largest city, has faced significant challenges due to its high population density and a large influx of refugees in recent years. This has added pressure on the city’s already limited infrastructure and service delivery, heightening community tensions and eroding trust between residents and local government.
  
  
• Approach: To help address these challenges, with support from the Strong Cities Network, Zarqa established a Local Prevention Network (LPN) in 2017 as a locally owned, municipality-led platform to institutionalise prevention efforts and ensure their sustainability. The LPN developed a strategic action plan through extensive stakeholder collaboration. One key initiative focused on combatting hate speech and violence against marginalised communities. In partnership with pro bono lawyers, the LPN provided free legal advice and representation to marginalised individuals through the municipality’s community service centre.
  
  During a needs assessment, the LPN identified a lack of skills and confidence among youth as a barrier to employment, exacerbating feelings of exclusion and vulnerability to extremist recruitment. In response, the LPN partnered with schools, CSOs and mental health professionals to organise educational workshops, training sessions and capacity-building programmes aimed at fostering confidence and leadership skills among young people.
  
  To ensure effectiveness, the LPN prioritised capacity-building for its members, defined clear roles and responsibilities, and developed a code of conduct to institutionalise its work. Regular meetings and structured collaboration further enhanced the LPN’s ability to respond to emerging challenges effectively.
  
  
• Impact: The Zarqa LPN established a cohesive prevention approach by uniting municipal leadership, national government officials, CSOs and community representatives under a formalised governance structure. This approach fostered systematic collaboration through structured protocols and joint planning mechanisms. By enhancing information sharing across governance levels while maintaining strong local ownership, the LPN has created a sustainable model for addressing prevention challenges. The multi-actor framework has strengthened the collective capacity of government and civil society to implement effective, locally-driven prevention initiatives.

Recommendations

Participants identified a number of actionable recommendations to enhance the role of MENA cities in preventing and addressing hate, violent extremism and polarisation:

• Strengthen Municipal Digital Resilience: Develop comprehensive frameworks that integrate monitoring systems and strategic communications with targeted digital literacy programs for youth and vulnerable populations, while ensuring the freedom of speech and expression. This coordinated approach can help prevent online harms from fuelling into offline violence, and foster community resilience to radicalisation to violence.
• Formalise Youth Participation in Governance: Establish youth councils and advisory committees to ensure meaningful involvement of young people in designing and implementing prevention initiatives, promoting their active role in local decision-making processes.
• Enhance Crisis Preparedness and Management: Build municipal crisis management systems equipped with robust data collection and analysis tools to support evidence-based responses. Focus on fostering coordination among national and local authorities, CSOs and communities, with an emphasis on addressing local concerns and vulnerabilities.
• Promote Community Resilience through Urban Planning: Implement urban planning initiatives that strategically utilise public spaces to encourage positive interactions among diverse community groups, strengthening social cohesion.
• Expand Regional and National Cooperation Mechanisms: Facilitate knowledge-sharing and the scaling of successful prevention approaches through regional cooperation among cities. Emphasise participatory planning that includes diverse stakeholders to create inclusive and sustainable solutions.
• Ensure Sustainable Funding: Secure dedicated budget lines for municipal prevention work to support both digital and community engagement initiatives, ensuring long-term sustainability of prevention efforts.
  

Participant Commitments & Next Steps

City Partnerships:

• Tripoli (Lebanon) and Halabja (Iraq) committed to sharing good practices in managing displaced populations while fostering community cohesion.

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues:

• Zarqa (Jordan) and Sabha (Libya) agreed to conduct updated mapping of community needs and host local dialogues to identify the priority areas for intervention for their respective LPNs.

Youth-Led Initiatives:

• Fes (Morocco) will establish a Youth Advisory Council, integrating lessons from similar city models like Karak (Jordan).

Recommendations for the MENA Regional Hub:

Practice-Specific Deep Dives:

• Participants suggested expanding the Strong Cities City Spotlights Library to include practice-specific guidance, such as two-page briefs on effective practices discussed during the workshop. Examples include urban planning for social cohesion, digital resilience frameworks and multi-stakeholder crisis management models.
• The MENA Regional Hub could collaborate with regional associations (e.g., Moroccan Association of Presidents of Communal Councils) to consolidate and disseminate these practices.

Support with Policy Development:

• Participants recommended that the MENA Regional Hub support local governments in reviewing and developing city-level prevention, as well as crisis management and response, policies and strategies. This could include compiling existing policies into templates and facilitating workshops focused on joint policy review and collaborative planning, as well as expert support through Strong Cities’ Technical Support Fund and Expert Pool.

The MENA Regional Hub, including in collaboration with partner organisations, will seek to support these commitments with technical assistance and take the recommendations forward as it continues to catalyse and strengthen city-led prevention across the region.

Additional Resources

• Countering Hate Speech in Times of Crisis: Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• Managing Migration: City-Led Approaches for Being an Inclusive, Welcoming and Socially-Cohesive City, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation: Leveraging Local Youth Councils, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• City-Led Youth Engagement in Addressing Hate, Extremism and Polarisation: Ten Recommendations for Cities, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• Creating Safe, Cohesive and Resilient Cities through Urban Planning & Design: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• National-Local Cooperation: A Pillar of City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation – A Practice Update, Strong Cities Network, December 2024
• Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative, Strong Cities Network, 2024
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2024
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, updated 2024
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network, May 2024
• Constructing UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Cities, Operational Guidelines, May 2024
• City Spotlights Library, Strong Cities Network
• National-Local Cooperation Toolkit, Global Counterterrorism Forum, Strong Cities, September 2023

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For more information on this event and the Strong Cities’ MENA Regional Hub, please contact [email protected]

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