Preventing and countering violent extremism: role of civil society and media in Benin
This workshop aimed to improve the capacity of civil society actors and journalists to respond to violent extremism.
Date: 2020-10-01 to 2020-10-02
Time: 09:00 to 17:00
Venue: Cotonou, Benin
Since 2016, terrorism has become a serious threat in Benin and along the northern borders that this country share with Burkina Faso and Niger. Preventing the threat requires input from national actors including civil society and the media. Yet empirical knowledge and understanding of violent extremism dynamics is limited and often unequal among these actors.
Against this background, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) partnered with the Benin chapter of the West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP-Benin) to deliver a capacity building workshop for selected Beninese civil society and media. The workshop took place from 1–2 October in Cotonou, Benin.
The workshop aimed to build capacity by sharing experiences and research findings from ISS and WANEP on violent extremism. Presentations also included policy and programmatic processes on preventing and countering extremism in Benin.
The workshops was conducted in three parts. The first focused on sharing knowledge based on ISS research in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. The genesis and evolution of violent extremism was discussed along with groups’ strategies for generating and distributing human, financial and operational resources, including from a gendered perspective.
The second interactive session covered national initiatives to prevent and counter violent extremism in Benin. The third focused on sharing experiences of civil society and media in the Sahel. This enabled participants to identify lessons learned and best practices, and develop an understanding of the situation in the region. It also enabled them to identify the role they could play in the prevention and countering terrorism.
These workshops were co-hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, Benin (WANEP-Benin).
