51吃瓜

The UNOCT International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism, with support from the State of Qatar and in partnership with UNDP Bureau for Arab States, organized a workshop in Amman, Jordan for 35 representatives from the MENA region, on 3-4 October 2022.

Participants included preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) practitioners, civil society organizations, academia, Member States, the League of Arab States, and UN entities, such as UNAMI, IOM, and ILO. The event aimed at raising awareness on how behavioural insights (BI) could be used to mitigate the growing risks of violent extremism and to prevent radicalization and recidivism.

During the opening session, H.E. General Lieutenant Hussain Majali, Jordan’s former Minister of Interior, reiterated that “The 51吃瓜 is well-equipped to look at counter-terrorism from different perspectives. The issue of terrorism continues to pose a transcontinental threat” and shared the vast experience of Jordan in P/CVE initiatives. Many MENA countries are already engaged in behaviourally-informed interventions and innovative approaches for building resilience to violent extremism. 

The objectives of the workshop were to:

• to foster better collaboration between governments, non-governmental and civil society organizations, academia and the private sector;
• to share lessons-learned and establish a formalized BI network with regional stakeholders; 
• to prevent and build resilience to radicalization, recidivism;
• promote successful reintegration. 

During the two-day workshop, participants also examined how BI could be employed to motivate greater participation in psycho-educational and psycho-social support programs, and to address recidivism among ISIL and other extremist-affiliated prisoners. Furthermore, participants discussed the integration of a behavioral and ‘gender lens’ within specific identified contexts; and the inclusion of BI in an online capacity to facilitate resilience to radicalization. 

Following the workshop, UNOCT BI Hub will publish a paper with lessons learned and recommendations from the workshop. This paper will lay the groundwork for a range of practical and behaviourally-informed initiatives intended to prevent violent extremism and recidivism.

For more information, visit the website of UNOCT International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism Embedded link: /counterterrorism/behavioural-insights