THE THIRD MEETING OF THE PRIVATE-PUBLIC DIALOGUE PLATFORM ON TERRORISM AND VIOLENT EXTREMISM

The third meeting of the Platform for Private-Public Dialogue on Terrorism and Violent Extremism issues was organized by the Center for Strategy and Development (CSD).  The Platform was established last year within the framework of the program "Enhancing the Capacity of Georgia in Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation", which CSD has been implementing since March 2020 with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway.

The permanent members of the Platform are members of the Permanent Interagency Commission on Elaboration of the National Counterterrorism Strategy and the representatives of non-governmental sectors were invited to the event. Discussions included the issues such as: the 2021 report of the program - “Enhancing the Capacity of Georgia in Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation" and further steps, international terrorism and Georgia's counter-terrorist efforts, the current research on violent extremist narratives in Georgia, and the needs of the education sector for the prevention of violent extremism.

At the event, the representative of the Counter-Terrorist Center reviewed international terrorism, the existing security environment in Georgia and the counter-terrorist measures carried out by the State Security Service.  Attention was drawn to radical-extremist threats in the country, strengthening of international cooperation and counter-terrorist efforts.

During the report on the research on the violent extremist narratives in Georgia, the content and language characteristics of the jihadist narrative, the definition of the violent extremist narrative adapted to the Georgian context, the content configuration of the far-right narrative, the role of Georgia in the international arena, the platforms used for the dissemination of the jihadist narrative, the hindering factors and the target audience in Georgia were discussed. 

Within the challenges of counter-radicalism in the educational field, attention was drawn to the goals of general education, the importance of democratic culture competencies and the readiness of schools, their opportunities and challenges.

The Platform meetings are held twice a year and its purpose is to share accumulated knowledge and practices in the state and civil sector, in the direction of preventing violent extremism and fighting terrorism, to support coordination between the state and non-governmental sector, and in this way to promote effective policies.