THE FIRST PLATFORM FOR PRIVATE-PUBLIC DIALOGUE HAS BEEN SET UP ON ISSUES OF VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM

Under the Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD) project ("Enhancing the capacity of Georgia in preventing violent extremism and radicalization"), a Platform for Public-Private Dialogue (Council) on Terrorism and Violent Extremism was established for the first time with the involvement of the State Security Service. Its aim is to share the knowledge and practices accumulated in the public and civil sectors in the prevention of violent extremism and the fight against terrorism, to support coordination between the public and non-governmental sectors, and thus to promote effective policies. The permanent members of the Council are members of the Permanent Interagency Commission on Elaboration of the National Counterterrorism Strategy and eight thematic non-governmental organizations: Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD), Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Georgian Reform Association (GRASS), Geocase, Institute for Democracy Research (DRI), Media Development Fund (MDF), Center for Social Justice (formerly EMC).

The first meeting of the Council was held on June 23 this year. The meeting was introductory in nature, where Director of GCSD, Mariam Tokhadze, introduced the participants to the ongoing program - " Enhancing the capacity of Georgia in preventing violent extremism and radicalization " and a guide on world best practices in the prevention of violent extremism. Bacha Mgeladze, Deputy Head of the Counter-Terrorism Center of the State Security Service, reviewed the challenges and threats to the country. Giorgi Sabedashvili, Head of the Information-Analytical Department of the State Security Service, presented the vision of the State Security Service on the new strategy of Georgia in the fight against terrorism.

After the presentations, the meeting continued in a discussion mode. All the presented organizations/structures had the opportunity to ask questions and talk about the challenges and lessons learned, which were identified during the thematic work.

The program "Enhancing the capacity of Georgia in preventing violent extremism and radicalization" has been implemented by the GCSD since March 2020 with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.

The main goal of the program is to support Georgia in strengthening its capacity to deal with the threats posed by violent extremism and terrorism.