UNESCO

US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken made
a forceful appeal for respect, civic engagement and
responsibility at the High-Level Event on Preventing
Violent Extremism through Education hosted at UNESCO
Headquarters on 6 November.
26
She also underscored the strategic
importance of quality education
to counter violent extremism, and
highlighted two forthcoming activities of
UNESCO: the first ever High-Level Event
on Preventing Violent Extremism through
Education, co-organized with the United
States and to be held later in November,
and the development of a Teachers’ Guide
© UNESCO/Nora Houguenade
on the Prevention of Violent Extremism
to support educators across the world.
She placed this work in the context of
the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
and the implementation of the 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda.
In October, UNESCO Member States
expressed their collective commitment
to PVE-E (preventing violent extremism
through education) through the adoption
of a decision by the Executive Board
which highlighted the high relevance
of UNESCO’s mandate to the subject.
As a follow up to the decision, UNESCO
instituted a focal point in the Education
Sector for preventing violent extremism
through education.
The High-Level Event on Preventing
Violent Extremism through Education
was hosted at UNESCO Headquarters on
6 November, to discuss implementing
global citizenship education to stop
violent extremism. On this day, UNESCO
Director-General Irina Bokova and
US Deputy Secretary of State Antony
Blinken appealed for respect, civic
engagement and responsibility. ‘No one
is born a violent extremist,’ said the
Director-General, and she added, ‘Violent
extremists are made, they are nurtured,
they are fuelled…. We must respond
with skills for critical thinking, with
opportunities for civic engagement, with
competences for dialogue across cultures.’
Mr Blinken stressed that UNESCO’s role
was more necessary than ever, and
announced that the United States would
work with UNESCO to develop a dynamic
digital education resource on violent
extremism and genocide.
Utilizing its extensive experience
working with and for youth at
YOUTH AND THE
INTERNET
FIGHTING
RADICALIZATION
AND EXTREMISM
16-17 June 2015
UNESCO Headquarters
the national, regional, and international
levels, UNESCO is already engaged
in the development of relevant
intersectoral initiatives to counter youth
radicalization to violent extremism.
In June 2015, UNESCO organized an
international conference to raise
awareness on strategies to prevent the
use of the Internet as a tool for youth
radicalization to violent extremism.
The conference launched UNESCO’s
New Integrated Framework for Action:
Empowering Youth to Build Peace,
and, an integrated follow-up proposal
‘Youth 2.0 - Building Skills, Bolstering
Peace,’ which adopts an all- inclusive
approach that connects UNESCO’s
areas of competences in youth, sport,
education, culture, and communication
and information, and aims at supporting
youth with the resilience, online
competencies, and confidence to
resist and counter radicalization to
violent extremism through the Internet
(for more information, see p. 88).