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Global Crises, Local Impacts: How Cities are Responding to Rising Hate, Extremism and Polarisation

Publication Date:
07/10/2000
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— 14 minutes reading time

On 25 September 2024, on the margins of the high-level week of the 79th United Nations (UN) General Assembly and with support from the European Union (EU), the Strong Cities Network held an event on Global Crises, Local Impacts: How Cities are Responding to Rising Hate, Extremism and Polarisation.  

The event convened 60 representatives of central governments and international and civil society organisations such as the UN, Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), the Christchurch Call Foundation and others, as well as mayors and senior city officials from the US and East Africa. It featured a series of interactive panels and keynotes on topics such as threats of hate and extremism on- and offline to local communities, the impact of global crises on this landscape and the role of local governments in mitigating such impacts, including through city-led public safety reforms and community-based partnerships.  

The event took place as part of Strong Cities’ Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative, and, enabled national governments and international organisations to hear directly from cities about the challenges they face with global crises and to showcase the vital role they play in prevention and response. 

Several key findings emerged from the discussions: 

Our greatest strength is our diversity, but it also means whatever unfolds around the world impacts our cities. Hate and extremism are not going away unless we come together to find solutions at the sub-national level.

Philip Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, New York City (New York), United States

Threats & Key Challenges

Among the biggest concerns raised by participants is the proven potential for global crises to exacerbate hate and inter-community tensions. For example, Sasha Havlicek, Founder and CEO of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which hosts the Strong Cities Network, noted that ISD researchers monitored a 50% increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim content on platforms like YouTube in the three days after October 7, 2023, pointing to the pace with which online harms can escalate in times of crisis. The impacts of global crises such as Israel-Gaza have also been felt offline, as shared by Caroline Simmons, Mayor of Stamford (Connecticut), US. She pointed to an uptick in hate speech and hate crimes in her city post-October, sharing, for example, that antisemitic literature was being sent to people’s homes, including to local officials. Bartjan Wegner, Counter Terrorism Coordinator, EU also cited a rise in hate incidents across Europe since October 7, adding that it is the responsibility of national and local governments to protect all citizens against such hate and that cities must be empowered “to mitigate hate in their communities”. 

More broadly, speakers expressed concern about the potential for online harms to lead to (violent) mobilisation offline. The recent riots in the UK were cited as one example, where disinformation surrounding the identity of the perpetrator of a mass stabbing in Southport in July 2024 led to a series of anti-immigration riots and attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers. Tariq Tyab, Founder, Foundation for a Path Forward, additionally shared the example of the 2018 attack against a mosque in Canada, where the shooter was motivated to violence in part due to the proliferation of narratives claiming Muslim immigrants seek to replace and kill non-Muslim Canadians.

In this context, when asked what they were most concerned about heading into 2025, city officials pointed to anti-migrant and xenophobic sentiment. They shared that crises such as Israel-Gaza, the war in Ukraine and climate change are fuelling unprecedented levels of migration and that local governments are not supported to adequately accommodate resulting population boons, despite wanting to be “welcoming cities” to all. This creates strains in public service delivery, causing tensions between migrants and long-term residents, with the latter perceiving the former as a threat to their livelihoods. 

Finally, when it comes to mounting an effective response to the above challenges, city officials pointed to inadequate human resources, technical/subject-matter expertise and access to data as the primary challenges. They emphasised the importance of both city-city learning and global-local cooperation in addressing such capacity gaps, with Mayor Simmons sharing, for example, that “the [Strong Cities] Network has been really fantastic, especially for a new mayor. To learn from other cities is really essential.” Nina Hachigian, Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy, US Department of State also reinforced the importance of peer-learning, noting how the State Department supported an exchange between US and Armenian mayors in June 2024, where they had the opportunity to discuss their role in safeguarding democracy. She also cited Strong Cities’ Transatlantic Dialogue Initiative, which is supported by the US Department of State, as in important platform for city-city exchange on pressing challenges, such as online harms and anti-migrant sentiment.

Our experience working with cities deepens the work of national governments. Cities are vital partners in international efforts to build cohesion.

Nina Hachigian, Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy, US Department of State 

Key Themes

In a conversation about the online threat landscape, speakers pointed to the need to equip local governments with the tools and access to data (for example, related to online monitoring of hate and extremism) to enable them to prevent online harms from escalating to offline violence. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, UN, shared, for example, that local governments can support UN and other international efforts to address hate speech, particularly by providing insight into the “coded language” that is increasingly used in different local contexts to sow hatred, noting that such language often requires an understanding of hyper-local environments to recognise it as hate and/or an incitement to violence.  

[Addressing hate speech] is a huge task but cities play a major role on the ground in partnership with their communities. We are here for you and would be willing to work with you on these ideas

Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nations 

Speakers also shared that local governments can prevent hate speech by investing in the digital citizenship and resilience of their residents, using communications campaigns to debunk (local) conspiracies and working with communities most vulnerable to being targeted with online hate to ensure they feel protected. Speakers agreed that local governments should also be included in or given the opportunity to engage initiatives such as the Christchurch Call Foundation and others so they can be kept informed of how various digital platforms are exploited to amplify hate and extremism and the national and global frameworks that exist to address digital threats. Paul Ash, Director, Christchurch Call Foundation echoed such sentiments, recognising that hate “manifests in cities and prevention programmes must be delivered at the local level”. He emphasised a commitment from the Foundation to working with local governments – including via Strong Cities – and other partners, such as the UN, to better equip and include local governments in global responses to online harms. 

The innovations and solutions [of local government] can be more effective than international solutions can deliver… Local governments are a frontline of defence to counter and mitigate false claims.

Bartjan Wegter, Counter Terrorism Coordinator, EU 

The event also provided city officials with the opportunity to underscore the importance of community-based partnerships, specifically that local governments should approach community members and community-based organisations as partners in public safety efforts, rather than just as beneficiaries of such efforts. This is the approach of Newark (New Jersey), US for example, with Mayor Ras Baraka noted that partnering with communities on public safety has led to a significant decrease in crime in his city. He shared that consulting with communities on their biggest safety concerns and gathering their perspectives on how public safety can be strengthened can facilitate a more effective deployment of city resources that is responsive to the actual, rather than perceived, needs of residents. It also gives communities a sense of ownership over their safety and that of their neighbours and can strengthen trust in local governance overall.  

Alexandra Tully, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, New York City, also emphasised that “our community is the City’s most important partner”, noting that ‘co-producing’ public safety solutions with the communities should be standard practice in cities across the world. She also encouraged other city officials to invest in public-private partnerships on public safety, noting that most employers recognise that a safe environment will only be beneficial to their business, and that businesses – like communities – can offer innovative ideas to strengthen public safety.  

Further, Randy Duque, Deputy Director: Community Relations Division, City of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), US shared that his office coordinates an interagency ‘civil rights taskforce’, which comprises federal, state and local officials, as well as key community partners. The taskforce provides a platform for all such actors to come together to strengthen civil rights and community cohesion across Philadelphia, facilitating a more networked and streamlined approach to such efforts where partners are able to coordinate their efforts and thus avoid duplication. Importantly, the taskforce also has a crisis response subgroup, which was deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to rising levels of anti-Asian hate speech and crime. As part of this effort, the City’s community partners worked with Asian residents to strengthen their trust in local law enforcement and encourage more consistent reporting of hate crimes.  

Gertrude Rose Gamwera Buyinga, Head of Strong Cities’ East and Southern Africa (ESA) Regional Hub and Secretary-General of the East African County and Local Government Association shared other examples of how local governments are partnering with community members on prevention. She noted how the ESA Regional Hub has worked with Nansana Municipality (Uganda) to implement Neighbourhood Watch – traditionally a model for preventing petty crime – as a community-based early-warning mechanism against hate and extremism, following requests from Mayor Regina Bakitte for support to mitigate the impacts of cross-border extremist mobilisation (for example, with ADF militants crossing into Uganda from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo). As part of this effort, community members have been trained on individual and community safety practices, including on how to recognise harmful behaviour and report concerns to the local government, and have been mandated to raise awareness on issues of hate and extremism. The 30+ Neighbourhood Watch groups that have been formed each have designated local government liaisons who ensure they abide by a strict human rights-based code of conduct and to facilitate consistent dialogue between Neighbourhood Watch members and city officials on threats to social cohesion.  

The potential for impact when local governments partner with communities was further highlighted by Khalid Koser, Executive Secretary, GCERF. As a global fund for civil society, GCERF has funded over 350 local organisations globally to deliver counter-extremism projects. This includes funding civil society organisations to implement early-warning mechanisms against extremism, with Khalid pointing in particular to the Community Action Response Teams (CARTs) that GCERF has supported in Nigeria. Like Neighbourhood Watch programmes, CARTs identify and seek to address tensions in communities before they escalate to violence. Khalid noted that local government plays a role in bridging and coordinating different community-based prevention initiatives like CARTs, and that partnering with such initiatives can strengthen trust in local governance by demonstrating a commitment to addressing local grievances.  

The event also highlighted the important role of mayors, as the ‘face’ of their cities, in safeguarding social cohesion amidst rising levels of hate and extremism. Ravinder Bhalla, Mayor, Hoboken (New Jersey), US shared, for example, that when he took office as Hoboken’s first Sikh mayor, he was subjected to disinformation about his identity and intentions, with claims spreading across Hoboken that he was going to “cancel Christmas”, in turn leading to death threats and incitements to violence against him. To dispel such narratives, Mayor Bhalla made a public statement declaring Hoboken a “welcoming city” and attended Christmas festivities, as well as other religious and cultural days, positioning himself and the local government as one that serves all residents, regardless of background. As he said, he “[wanted] to send a message that all faiths are recognised and respected”. Similarly, in response to rising levels of hate in Stamford, Mayor Simmons posted a statement against hate to reinforce Stamford as a city for all.  

The importance of mayoral leadership in prevention was further highlighted by Florence Namayanja, Mayor, Masaka City (Uganda), who said she is investing in youth residents. She shared that following a steady rise in online hate and extremist mobilisation in her city, with militant groups recruiting idle youth to commit violence, she personally requested support from the Strong Cities’ ESA Regional Hub to strengthen her engagement with the youth she serves. In April 2024, the Regional Hub partnered with Mayor Namayanja and other local officials to host a dialogue with youth from across the city: the first-time young people were given a platform to share their perspectives on the local hate and extremist threat landscape and the main insecurities driving young people to take part in anti-social behaviour. The dialogue resulted in the formation of a Youth Committee comprising the Mayor’s Youth Desk Officer and various youth leaders, as well as a regular virtual exchange between the Mayor and youth on prevention. In these fora, youth are given the opportunity to share their biggest concerns and advise the Mayor – who attends all virtual exchanges – and the local government on how best the City can take action in partnership with young people to address such concerns. Further, inspired by Strong Cities’ Mayoral Declaration Against Hate and Extremism, she has established other offices within the Mayor’s Office responsible for consistent and proactive engagement with minorities or otherwise marginalised communities, such as disabled individuals.  

The event highlighted why mayors and local governments must be empowered to prevent hate, extremism and other threats to peace and security. Given their proximity to the communities they serve, city leaders local governments are well-placed to address the insecurities that may drive vulnerability to hate and extremism, including in partnership with other local actors. This points to the need for greater global-local cooperation, where the international community of actors involved in preventing and responding to hate and extremism must recognise local governments as the vital actor they are and make a more explicit effort to include them in both the development and implementation of relevant peace and security frameworks and policies.  

In this context, representatives of national and international institutions such as the US State Department, EU, UN, GCERF and Christchurch Call Foundation all expressed their commitment to working with local governments on prevention, including via Strong Cities. This includes through partnering with Strong Cities to help local governments implement relevant frameworks, such as the UN’s Plan of Action to Prevent Hate Speech. Meanwhile, Strong Cities will continue to convene mayors and other city officials to enable peer-learning on prevention, with city speakers noting the impact of the platform Strong Cities provides.  

Finally, on 3-5 December 2024, Strong Cities will host its Fifth Global Summit in Cape Town (South Africa) with support from the EU, US State Department and Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will provide another opportunity – complimenting this event – to showcase on a global scale the contributions of mayors and local governments in stemming the rising tide of hate and extremism. 

Mayors and other local government officials play a key role in prevention – they are the frontline of response. We will continue to work with our Strong Cities partners to bring local authorities together.

Elizabeth Richard, Counter Terrorism Coordinator, United States Department of State 

For more information on this event and Strong Cities’ Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative, please email [email protected].