The background for the conference was the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' decision to fund research on deradicalization programs after the 2006 UN member states’ adoption of a Global Counter Terrorism-Strategy.
The purpose of the research on deradicalization programs is to identify techniques and approaches that may be effective across cultural and geographical divides, with regards to turning radicalized individuals away from violence and reintegrate them into society.
HRH Prince Hassan held the opening speech at the conference, touching upon the issues of poverty and lack of education as the roots to radicalization. He focused on the fact that if the Arab world continues on today’s track, 100 million Arabs will be unemployed within the next ten years. He also said that in order not to “hot house terror” the Arab world needs a common vision on how to ensure safety and cooperation, and he encouraged the Arab world to look towards the Scandinavian model. With regards to the international society, the Prince called on turning the focus away from pipelines and military build-ups, and rather looking at the Arab region with hearts and minds.
The aims of the conference held at the Arab Thought Forum in Amman was to gather and share information on existing programs, including their origins, development and success. The participants were academics, experts and practitioners from more than twenty countries, representing all regions of the world. The main discussion themes concerned the validity of the current literature on violent extremism, the backgrounds of the existing deradicalization programs and the success of these programs.
The final outcome of the project will be a report on selected rehabilitation programs that aims to offer guidance to states on how to deal with the problem of violent extremism. The report will be prepared by IPI and made available to all UN member states.
Read about the conference in Jordanian newspapers: Jordan Times, al Rai, al Ghad.