MENA Regional Hub: Enhancing Whole-of-Society Prevention Efforts in Tunisia — The Role of Local Governments in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism

Publication Date:

19/11/2024

Content Type:

Event Reports

Tags:

— 4 minutes reading time

Event Details

Description: A national workshop to enhance the role of local authorities in preventing violent extremism in Tunisia

Where & When: 10 — 11 September 2024, Tunis, Tunisia

Cities Represented

Tunisia: Bir Lahmar, Hammam-Lif, Jendouba, Sfax, Sidi Bou Rouis, Sousse, Tataouine and Tunis

Governorates Represented

Tunisia: Ariana, Ben Arous, Jendouba, Kef, Manouba, Sfax, Sousse, Tataouine, Tunis

Partners Represented

International and Non-Governmental Organisations

International Centre for Local Development and Good Governance/The Association of Netherlands Municipalities International (CILG/VNGI),
FHI 360
Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United States Institute of Peace (USIP)

Diplomatic Missions

Delegation of the European Union to Tunisia

Local Organisations

Key Takeaways

For Cities

Governorates and municipalities in Tunisia have an important, but often untapped, role to play in. Rather than waiting for the allocation of dedicated violent extremism prevention resources, local governments can integrate prevention into an existing mandate and leverage existing resources and expertise to deliver prevention programmes even in the absence of specific budget allocation.
The updated National Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism (2023 — 2027) presents an opportunity for governorates and municipalities to assume an active role in preventing violent extremism.
City-led efforts to strengthen trust between citizens and local institutions by improving and ensuring equitable service delivery and increasing transparency in governance can help reduce feelings of marginalisation and social exclusion that can lead to radicalisation to violence.
Local authorities should tap into and strengthen existing efforts to engage young people in their communities, including through initiatives such as youth forums, youth councils, skill building and economic empowerment programmes, recognising that youth engagement and empowerment is crucial for building community resilience. These platforms and programmes can help address feelings of exclusion, which can serve as a driver of violent extremism.
Identifying existing local government and non-governmental structures and programmes that are impacting communities positively is critical for building a whole-of-city approach to prevention. Civil society, in particular, plays an important role in Tunisia in community engagement and represents a valuable partner for local governments in the prevention of violent extremism.
Local governments should lead, promote or otherwise support local initiatives aimed at spreading a culture of tolerance and rejecting violence, as well as implement programmes to strengthen social cohesion and dialogue between different groups of the local community.
Cities would benefit from capacity-building support to enhance their abilities to design and deliver strategic communications campaigns. Effective communication strategies, which should include a focus on developing alternative narratives and positive community identities to counter violent extremist ideologies, can help cities build trust with local communities, which is foundational for successful prevention efforts.
Local governments should invest in establishing mechanisms for ongoing evaluation and adjustment of local prevention policies and programmes based on evidence and outcomes.

For National Governments

The updated National Strategy presents an opportunity to engage cities and local authorities in the localisation of the strategy; ensuring that local actors are empowered and adequately supported to contribute to its implementation should be prioritised.
Drawing on the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s (GCTF) good practices and toolkit on national-local cooperation (NLC), the national government should seek to enhance cooperation with local governments in addressing hate, polarisation and violent extremism, including for the purpose of leveraging their access to community-based actors. This will help ensure national responses to these challenges are informed by the reality of what is needed on the ground.
The national government should capitalise on the momentum garnered by the revised National Strategy to enhance NLC among different levels of government on prevention. Emphasis should be placed on clarifying roles and mandates, particularly for local government as well as establishing clear communication and information sharing channels between national and local levels.

For Partners and Donors

They should promote and encourage NLC, including through the involvement of local governments in regular dialogues with national government counterparts and other relevant violent extremism prevention stakeholders. This could be sustained through a mechanism or platform (formal or informal) and protocols to facilitate two-way information-sharing between national and local authorities. Strong Cities could support these processes through the sharing of good practices and replicable models in NLC from across the region and beyond.
They should actively involve local authorities as stakeholders in the design of preventing violent extremism and related interventions, ensuring that the programmes respond to local realities and needs.

Next Steps

The Strong Cities Network’s MENA Regional Hub will continue to work with Tunisian cities and national-level actors to support the implementation of the Tunisian National Strategy and these recommendations. This will include providing opportunities for city-to-city learning, offering expert support, and utilizing Strong Cities’ resources such as its Guide for City-Led Response and Guide for Cities to help translate these recommendations into concrete actions. In addition, through its Technical Support Fund, the MENA Regional Hub will support a number of Tunisian cities directly in building out their prevention and response capabilities and interventions.

Additional Resources