Indonesia, US look to build resilience against extremism
Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: The Indonesian and United States governments are seeking to build community resilience against extremism in Southeast Asia through the organization of the 3rd ASEAN-US Regional Workshop on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE).
“This is the third time that SOMTC Indonesia and the US government have co-hosted the ASEAN-US Workshop on P/CVE,” Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Police Commissioner General Rycko Amelza Dahniel said in a statement received here on Tuesday.
SOMTC stands for ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Transnational Crime.
Dahniel said that the two previous workshops were carried out well by identifying approaches and good practices for developing national strategies and policies.
“Including the development of the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Violent-Based Extremism that Leads to Terrorism,” he added.
BNPT, which is the chair of the ASEAN senior official group, and the US government are hosting the workshop from June 6–7, 2023.
The annual meeting is scheduled to be attended by around 80 participants from ASEAN member countries, representatives from partners, experts, academics, international organizations, and civil society organizations.
Dahniel said that the meeting between Indonesia and the US Government will contribute to the development of national strategies and policies for preventing extremism.
He said that the meeting will discuss a number of important issues related to efforts to prevent extremism, including the exchange of information on developments in global and regional terrorism, and the current situation in ASEAN countries.
The meeting will also discuss youth and women’s perspectives on strengthening community resilience, early response, and partnerships in responding to violent extremism propaganda or Early Warning Early Response (EWER), and other online challenges.
Meanwhile, USAID Regional Development Mission Director for Asia, Dr. Steven Olive, also underlined the importance of the involvement of many parties for building community resilience against violent extremist groups.
“Therefore, this year’s workshop has raised the theme of community resilience, to increase the community’s ability to anticipate, adapt, survive, and recover quickly together,” he said.
The meeting will also produce a number of recommendations, especially on increasing the strength of society, particularly women and the younger generation, in fighting violent extremism, which will be jointly implemented by ASEAN countries, the US government, partners, and donor agencies.
All participants will then take part in the 3rd Bali Work Plan Multi-Sectoral Task Force (MTF) Meeting and the 3rd ASEAN Partners Meeting for the Implementation of the Bali Work Plan (2019–2025) on June 8 and 9.
