Events
Community Engagement to Counter Terrorism
19-21 July 2011 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, in partnership with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development’s Capacity Building Programme Against Terrorism (ICPAT), recently concluded the third seminar in a series designed to strengthen law enforcement cooperation in East Africa. The seminar, entitled, “Community Engagement to Counter Terrorism,” held from 19 to 21 July 2011, focused on community, civil society and media engagement for the purposes of effective counterterrorism cooperation. It brought together law enforcement, military and judicial officials from around the region, as well as civil society representatives from Kenya, Somaliland, Japan and the UK, to share best practices and develop innovative thinking.
Over the course of the three-day program, participants from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda, and the newly independent Republic of South Sudan, examined lessons learned from public engagement, critical incident management, and community policing strategies. In sessions led by expert practitioners, they exchanged ideas regarding effective cooperation between governments and diverse communities on matters of security and justice in local, national and regional contexts. On the second day of the seminar, each IGAD member state presented a briefing on their country’s community engagement policies and practices in the counterterrorism context. Participants concluded the seminar applying lessons learned through group-based problem-solving exercises and discussed options for taking forward a proactive agenda on community engagement in the region.
The meeting was attended by over thirty representatives from the IGAD region, and was opened by the Honorable Netsannet Asfaw, Director of the IGAD Peace and Security Division. Representatives from the Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KYMA) and the Somali Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention (OCVP) also presented briefings on their extensive work with communities in the region.
Press Coverage:
“Continental workshop on the role of the public in fighting terrorism opens in Addis,” ERTA News, 19 July 2011
“Human Rights and the Rule of Law: An interview with James Cockayne,” Yemane Nagish, the Ethiopian Reporter, 23 July 2011
“IGAD Working to engage communities to counter Terrorism,” AFRO FM 105.3, 19 July 2011
“Regional cooperation said central to engage public in counter-terrorism,” Ethiopian Press Agency, 20 July 2011