This afternoon, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, will deliver an opening speech at the High-Level Conference of the Radicalisation Awareness Network, marking 10 years since the creation of the EU-funded network. The network brings together EU and national policy makers, practitioners, researchers and experts, with the objective to exchange knowledge and first-hand experiences on preventing and countering violent extremism in all its forms. This afternoon’s discussion will focus on radicalisation in prisons as well as on the rehabilitation of returning foreign terrorist fighters and their families. It will also concern the online dimension of preventing radicalisation, the changes brought by the pandemic and any possible impact of the situation in Afghanistan. Since 2011, the RAN has brought together over 6,000 practitioners from all EU Member States, among them social workers, youth workers, teachers, healthcare professionals, civil society representatives, local authority representatives, police officers and prison officers, working daily with those vulnerable to radicalisation and those already radicalised. Over the past decade, the network has produced multiple handbooks and manuals to assist professionals in their daily work, including on the rehabilitation and reintegration of former offenders, returnees, foreign terrorist fighters and their families into society. The network’s recent projects include the ‘YOUNG Platform’, to provide young people with a voice in preventing and countering violent extremism, and a new project in the Western Balkans to facilitate exchanges with professionals in the region. Preventing and addressing radicalisation is a priority under the EU Counter-Terrorism Agenda and an important part of the Commission’s work on fostering security for all those living in Europe under the EU Security Union Strategy. Commissioner Johansson’s opening speech by video message will be available online here later this afternoon.
Details
- Publication date
- 12 October 2021