Huffington Post: Countering Violent Extremism -- Put Youth at the Center of the Narrative

So what needs to be done to counter the specter of violent extremism?
Under the Government's leadership, all development partners including the private sector should collaborate to ensure a holistic, well integrated, multi-year programs that creates an enabling environment in which young people can develop, advance and achieve their full human potential.

In order to do that, it will be useful to:
  1. Understand the relationship between youth and violent extremism within a broader context of their relationship to peace and security;
  2. Build an evidence base for action on youth engagement in violent extremism and challenge misinformation/myths;
  3. Focus on countering/preventing youth engagement in violent extremism without ignoring/neglecting the role of "non-youth";
  4. Develop strategies after thorough and insightful analyses of the political, religious, cultural, social and economic factors that drive youth to violent extremism.
Let's put youth at the center of the narrative. Kenya can serve as a model for transmuting its youth into a demographic dividend which other nations can emulate.
Here is an article which Mr Erik Solheim and I co-authored in the Huffington Post.

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