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ESA Regional Hub: Regional Roundtable on Showcasing and Sustaining City Led Action to Prevent Hate, Extremism and Polarisation

Publication Date:

23/09/2025

Content Type:

Event Reports

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ESA Regional HubNational-Local CooperationNeighbourhood WatchRegional RoundtableSTRIVE CitiesYouth Innovation

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This report provides a summary of discussions during the event and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Event Details

Description: A regional roundtable convening 14 cities from six countries, as well as local government associations and national and other partners, from across East and Southern Africa (ESA) to showcase city-led action against hate, extremism and other threats to safety and security.

Where & When: 23 – 25 September 2025, Nairobi (Kenya)

Cities Represented

• Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • City of Bukavu

• Kenya
  • Busia County
  • Mombasa County
  • Trans Nzoia County
  • West Pokot County

• Malawi
  • City of Lilongwe
  • City of Zomba

• Mozambique
  • City of Maputo

• South Africa
  • City of Cape Town
  • Stellenbosch Municipality

• Uganda
  • Koboko Municipality
  • Kyengera Town
  • Masaka City
  • Nansana Municipality

Partners Represented

Local Government / Local Authority Associations

• Alliance of Mayors’ Initiative for Community Action at the Local Level (AMICAALL Uganda)
• Association of Local Authorities of Tanzania
• East African County and Local Governments Association
• South African Local Government Association
• Zanzibar Association of Local Government Authorities

National Governments

• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom)
• Ministry of Interior and National Administration (Kenya)
• Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture (Malawi)
• National Counter Terrorism Centre (Kenya)

Other Partners

• European Union
• GIZ
• United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT)
• United Nations Women (UN Women)
• VNG International

Key Takeaways

For Mayors & Cities

• An important starting point for addressing hate and extremism as a local government is to map existing community-based and private-sector partners, networks and structures that can integrate social cohesion into their existing mandates and activities. This includes, for example, the role that schools, local businesses, sports organisations, cultural and religious centres can play in spreading positive messaging and in early identification of needs and vulnerabilities. By tapping into existing partners and institutions, local governments can start taking action against hate and extremism while not necessarily having a dedicated municipal budget (or mandate) to do so.
• Return to the ‘basics’ of local governance by ensuring there are regular opportunities for dialogue with the communities you serve: provide regular in-person and virtual fora for engagement, paying particular attention to reaching those who may be marginalised or socially isolated.
• Make sure opportunities for engagement between the local government and community are not just spaces to air grievances and concerns, but that they also encourage community members to share their ideas and solutions for addressing raised concerns.
• Tap into young people as change-makers: they can help spread positive messaging among their peers and often have innovative ideas for addressing local needs.

For National Governments

• Work with local governments and local government associations to identify and formalise a role for them in national security strategies and frameworks.
• Follow through on this identified role by supporting local governments through training and otherwise convening them to discuss progress with and needs for local implementation of national security strategies and frameworks.

For Partners and Donors

• Considering the proven potential for impact of city-to-city learning and the transfer of practices from one context to the other, each of the region’s national local government associations (i.e., ALAT, SALGA, Council of Governors) should map and disseminate prevention practices across their members.
• International and regional partners such as the UN and African Union (and relevant Regional Economic Communities) should build on Strong Cities’ impact by more explicitly considering a role for (and consulting with) local governments as they implement community safety, security and wellbeing-related initiatives in the region.

Next Steps

The regional convening placed the spotlight on city-led prevention practices implemented with Strong Cities support over the course of the three-year STRIVE Cities programme. It provided an important and timely case study of why local governments must be empowered with peer-to-peer learning opportunities, resources and other support to prevent hate and extremism in their communities, particularly as they grapple with a number of national, regional and global crises, from conflict to climate change. The convening showed that bringing local governments together can and has inspired action at both the city and national levels. Strong Cities will continue to build on this, including by leveraging its partners in the region, such as local government associations, to continue identifying, highlighting and disseminating city-led efforts to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation.

Strong Cities’ Sixth Global Summit, which takes place from 9-11 December 2025 in Toronto (Canada) will also provide an opportunity for cities in ESA to share – on a global scale – their learnings from implementing prevention practices as well as to learn from their counterparts across the world. The Summit will also seek their input on Strong Cities’ priorities and strategy for 2026, ensuring the support it provides in ESA remains driven by its main beneficiary: local government.

Additional Resources

ESA:

• ESA Regional Workshop Reports
  • Inaugural Workshop Operationalising Local Government-Led Multi-Actor Prevention Policies and Programmes (Nairobi, October 2022)Tapping into the Potential of Cities in Preventing and Responding to Hate- and Extremist-Motivated Violence (Johannesburg, June 2023)Scaling City-Led Action to Prevent and Respond to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation (Arusha; May 2024)
  • The Role of Border Municipalities in Addressing Hate, Extremism, Trafficking and Other Threats to Safety and Security (Dar es Salaam, June 2025)
• ESA City Spotlights: eThekwini Municipality (South Africa), Mandera County (Kenya), Mukaza Commune (Burundi), Nansana Municipality (Uganda), Stellenbosch Municipality (South Africa) 

NLC:

• Strong Cities Policy Brief: National-Local Cooperation: A Pillar of City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation – A Practice Update. Strong Cities Network, December 2024.
• Global Counterterrorism Forum’s National-Local Cooperation Toolkit, September 2023 

Other:

• A Guide for City-Led Response. Strong Cities Network, April 2024 
• Preventing and Responding to Election Disruption and Violence: Ten Considerations for Cities, Strong Cities Network, March 2024 
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, September 2023 
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, September 2023 
• Addressing the Overlooked Role of African Cities in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, Strong Cities Network, July 2022 

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