OSCE supports seminar for young community leaders in Kyrgyzstan on preventing VERLT

Some 30 young community activists from all seven provinces of Kyrgyzstan participated in an intensive three-day training workshop on the prevention of violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT). The event concluded on 18 June 2019 in Issyk-Kul, northern Kyrgyzstan.

The training sessions were delivered by three prominent experts of the Interior Ministry’s  Service for Countering Extremism and Illegal Migration with the support of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek. They raised the participants’ awareness on the relevant legal framework, key terms and concepts, principles of tolerance and diversity, online prevention of violent extremism as well as possible driving factors of and ways to prevent VERLT.

“The training course is a great platform to bring together young leaders of Kyrgyzstan, to enhance their knowledge of VERLT and combine their efforts in peacebuilding and stability, both in Kyrgyzstan and across the region,” noted Sergei Sizov, the Police Co-operation Officer in the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek.

Throughout the workshop, the participants were fully engaged in interactive group and individual work, including presentations, discussions, case studies, practical exercises as well as artistic performances. As a result, the young community leaders were able to draft their own initiatives on countering instances of VERLT at the community level.

Additionally, the workshop provided the participants with an opportunity to network during curricular and extracurricular activities. They expressed commitment to maintaining sustainable contacts with one another, thus creating a platform for further dialogue and strengthened co-operation in areas of conflict prevention and peacebuilding.