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MENA Regional Hub: Advancing City-Led Strategies to Prevent Hate, Violent Extremism and Polarisation in the Middle East and North Africa — From Innovation to Implementation

Publication Date:

03/07/2025

Content Type:

Event Reports

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MarrakechMENA Regional HubSocial CohesionUrban DevelopmentYouth Engagement

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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 workshop in partnership with the City of Marrakech on Advancing City-Led Strategies to Prevent Hate, Violent Extremism and Polarisation bringing together local and national authorities, civil society organisations and international partners from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco to share innovative practices in preventing hate, violent extremism and polarisation while building resilient communities.

Where & When: 14 — 15 May 2025, Marrakech (Kingdom of Morocco) 

Cities Represented

• Iraq: Anbar, Kirkuk and Maysan  
• Jordan: Amman, Zarqa 
• Lebanon: Tripoli 
• Morocco: Fes, Marrakech, Rabat, Tangier and Tetouan 

Partners Represented

International and Non-Governmental Organisations

• Foundation for a Path Forward
• High Atlas Foundation
• Moroccan Association of Communal Councils 

Diplomatic Missions

United Kingdom Embassy in Morocco

Key Takeaways

For Mayors & Cities

• Integrate Prevention into Urban Development and Governance: Embed hate and extremism prevention objectives into long-term urban planning, infrastructure design, youth engagement and digital transformation strategies. Make social cohesion a deliberate design feature of municipal services and spaces. 
• Invest in Inclusive Urban Planning for Social Cohesion: Leverage public space, accessibility planning and culturally sensitive reconstruction as tools to reduce fragmentation and promote inclusive, peaceful coexistence, especially in post-crisis or high-risk settings. 
• Empower Youth as Agents of Prevention: Formalise youth participation through the establishment of youth councils, community prevention networks and consultative platforms that give young people meaningful roles in shaping local policy, initiatives and digital resilience efforts. 
• Enhance Digital Resilience at the Local Level: Develop municipal strategies to counter digital hate and disinformation through youth-led awareness campaigns, digital literacy programmes, local monitoring mechanisms and partnerships with civil society and communities. 
• Institutionalise Multi-Stakeholder Prevention Platforms: Build or strengthen inclusive prevention networks that link municipalities with civil society, religious leaders, educators and social service providers, enabling coordinated responses and early identification of risks. 
• Advance Crisis Preparedness as a Core City Function: Create or reinforce municipal crisis response plans, integrating emergency management, cultural preservation and community outreach. Coordinate across national and local levels to ensure clarity of roles and resources. 
• Promote South–South Peer Learning: Strengthen regional cooperation among MENA cities to exchange prevention experiences, align efforts with national strategies and collectively address transnational drivers such as migration, digital radicalisation and displacement. 

For National Governments

• Recognise and Resource Local Governments as Prevention Leaders: Support cities to take proactive roles in preventing hate, violent extremism and polarisation: this includes in crisis settings, returnee reintegration and digital safety. 
• Establish National–Local Coordination Mechanisms: Facilitate formalised channels for information-sharing, joint planning and mutual accountability between ministries and municipalities, especially in areas such as youth engagement and urban development. 
• Support Data and Early Warning Capacities: Enable municipalities to build data systems and local risk monitoring tools that can inform national programming, resource allocation and policy design. 

For Partners and Donors

• Prioritise Municipal Resilience Investment: Channel funding into cities’ prevention, reintegration and crisis response efforts, especially those targeting at-risk youth, underserved communities and digital harms. 
• Scale Impactful Local Models: Invest in replicable, city-led innovations, including one model on the Fes Communal Youth Council or Tangier’s Digital Urban Diwan, and support cross-city learning to adapt these approaches regionally. 
• Ensure Long-Term, Flexible Support: Provide cities with adaptable, sustained technical and financial resources, allowing them to develop institutional capacity and implement multi-year prevention strategies aligned with national and regional goals. 

Next Steps

• Technical Assistance & Coordination: The MENA Regional Hub will continue supporting cities through technical assistance, expert deployment and regional coordination aligned with national CVE strategies and local priorities. 
• Peer Learning and Innovation Exchanges: Strong Cities will host ongoing peer learning forums and innovation sessions to share lessons learned from city-level efforts across the region and beyond. 
• Expanding the City Spotlights Library: Strong Cities will incorporate new spotlights and guidance based on case studies presented in Marrakech, including urban resilience in Amman and crisis response in Anbar. 

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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