Study explores best practices in preventing violent extremism

AMMAN — The West Asia-North Africa Institute (WANA) in partnership with the International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT) — funded by Barcelona City Council and the Catalan Agency for Cooperation and Development — published a comprehensive study exploring best practices and public policies in the area of preventing violent extremism (PVE) as they pertain to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda with a focus on Jordan and Spain. 

The United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council on October 31, 2000. 

The resolution represented a milestone in the fight for women’s involvement in peacekeeping efforts and affirmed that “peace and security efforts are more sustainable when women are equal partners in the prevention of violent conflict, the delivery of relief and recovery efforts, and in the forging of lasting peace”, according to a WANA statement.

Since the adoption of UNSCR 1325 there has been a growing recognition that women should participate in all areas of peace and security including the development of security policies and approaches that account for the gendered dynamics of violent conflict. 

In 2015, UNSCR 2242 was adopted calling for the integration of the WPS and the counterterrorism (CT) and P/CVE initiatives. The move to integrate the WPS and PVE agendas although applauded by some, it is still argued by others that this linkage puts forth a number of concerns, the statement said.

This study serves to reinforce knowledge about good practices and international public policies in the area of Women, Peace, and Security and PVE. 

This study provides professionals and advocates in the domain with a comparative read on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in a context linking WPS with PVE.  Ultimately, this report aims to be a point of reference for organisations that aim to conceptualise, design and implement UNSCR 1325 and UNSCR 2242, according to the statement.

The WANA research team said: “We incorporated insights from key informant interviews conducted with stakeholders in Jordan and Spain. Consequently, and to ensure that recommendations presented are framed within the national context of National Action Plan’s implementation, we categorised the recommendations using three pre-emptive pillars of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda: Prevention, protection, and participation”.

The recommendations provide reflections on the importance of engaging grassroots CSOs — women’s groups in particular — as equal partners in all matters related to peace and security. Best practices need to be stemming from those engaged in daily violence prevention to create policies that reflect their reality; women and men.