Cairo, Egypt – CCCPA conducted its fifth training on Preventing Radicalization and Extremism Leading to Terrorism (PRELT) in Africa, in Cairo, from 21-25 October 2017. This training comes as part of the current UNDP project funded by the Government of Japan, “Consolidating Peace, Security and Stability in Africa, 2017-2018”.
The training is the first of its kind in Africa to approach the prevention of radicalization as a community-based activity, using traditional and Islamic inclusive narratives. The program aims to equip local leaders and influencers with the necessary knowledge and skills to refute extremist interpretations of Islam, while propagating an alternative narrative of peace and coexistence within their local communities.
The training is unprecedented in the field of prevention of radicalization and extremism in its inclusion of fundamental and straightforward explanations of the rules and ethics of war and peace in Islam. A distinguished Azhari scholar delves into the foundations of peace narratives in Islam, while trainers, with in-depth expertise in Nigerian affairs, analyze the local context within which those narratives can have an impact. The uniqueness of CCCPA’s approach also relies on the understanding of radicalization and extremism in Nigeria through conflict analysis. This approach takes into consideration the individuality of the pathway towards radicalization while acknowledging both contextual as well as personal variables. The training is exercise-based to provide an interactive and engaging space for participants while allowing them perform content analysis of extremist narratives and build their own inclusive peace narratives.
Fifteen tribal, religious, youth and women leaders and influencers from across Nigeria participated in the training. Among them were university lecturers, professors and members of the civil society.The Center envisages delivering an advanced training course with in depth focus on the theological aspects of PRELT. This training is conceived especially for imams and religious scholars. Furthermore, CCCPA plans to expand its geographical scope to include other affected and vulnerable regions including the Sahel and Sahara region as well as North Africa.
