51吃瓜

The 51吃瓜 Office of Counter-Terrorism/51吃瓜 Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNOCT/UNCCT) convened a Whole-of-Society Crisis and Strategic Communications Workshop for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from 22-24 February 2023. It was co-funded by the European Union, and supported by the Indonesian Counter Terrorism Agency, Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Terorisme (BNPT).

Attended by over 50 participants from the Government of Indonesia, civil society, and media, the three-day workshop was delivered by UNCCT’s Global PCVE Programme to prepare the Government of Indonesia and civil society organizations for crisis communications responses in the aftermath of terrorist or violent extremist attacks. The proposed approach is based on whole-of society communications strategies aimed at strengthening social cohesion and countering violent extremist and terrorist narratives.  

“Terrorists’ increasingly sophisticated use of hate speech and violent extremist narratives is a threat that affects us all and requires integrated and comprehensive responses and solutions. We need strong policy and programmatic synergies in efforts to prevent these phenomena. It is promising that Member States in the region have been quick to react in response to these growing threats. However, it is of equal importance that we focus efforts on prevention, with strategic communications being but one of several effective avenues,” said Dr Jehangir Khan, the Director of UNCCT, who thanked BNPT for their support in delivering the workshop. 

The workshop provided an opportunity for officials from across the Indonesian Government and key stakeholders from the National PCVE Action Plan Secretariat to work together for the first time. The participants welcomed the opportunity to engage with civil society organizations. Open discussions with the media about ways to better collaborate in times of crises was described as a new and important measure in strengthening collective resilience in the aftermath of an attack. Adopting Whole-of-Society approaches was paramount to the success of the day-long crisis simulation activity completed by the participants. 

Stressing the need for a coherent approach, the Director for Regional and Multilateral Cooperation of BNPT, M. Zaim A. Nasution said, "This workshop can be a good start to open up opportunities for collaboration in the future and strengthen stakeholder coordination, especially on the issue of crisis communication strategy as an effort to prevent and overcome violent-based extremism leading to terrorism. In lieu of that, various initiatives in the context of preventing and overcoming violent extremism and terrorism that prioritize a soft approach have been carried out by Indonesia through strengthening regulations, policy strategies and creating programs in collaboration with other government agencies, both at the central and regional levels as well as with various stakeholders.”