TIC E

Regional Malian Youth Action Agenda

Context Violent Extremism, in general, refers to the process by which a person adopts radical views that result in violent behavior. While radical thinking is not a problem in itself, it becomes a threat to national secu-rity when citizens or groups advocate violence or use it to promote political, religious or ideological opinions. Among the factors that can motivate or invite people to resort to violence are real or perceived grievances.

Following the World Summit in New York on counte-ring violent extremism held in September 2015 with the objective of defining an action plan with particular emphasis on the role of youth and their contribution as partners, we, youth, propose to create a youth network to fight against violent extremism in Mali.

We have developed an action plan that reflects the realities of Mali and responses that correspond to the realities of the country. Our vision is to be the leading youth network to counter violent extremism in Mali and our mission is to contribute to the fight against violent extremism through prevention, and an active youth engagement in CVE in Mali and the Sahel region.

Factors that promote violent extremism in Mali:

1-Socio-cultural- Saving the honor and dignity- Social and Racial discrimination- Marginalization, social inequalities, injustice andyouth frustration- Cultural misunderstanding and differences betweenthe North and the South.

2-Economic- The financial and material support to young fightersby extremist groups- Poverty- Unemployment- Cronyism

3- Policies- Poor governance (lack of basic social services,injustice, and corruption….)- Illiteracy- Corruption- Nepotism and favoritism

4- Security- Spirit of Revenge of the people victims of armedstruggles- Absence of security forces in some areas of thecountry- Proliferation of small arms

5- Religious- Disregard of religious texts- Misinterpretation of religious discourse- Religious Fanaticism- Radical Sermons

Lessons learned in Mali- State failure can lead to the spread of violent extre-mists groups in a country.- The state should strengthen its security measures,and reform its institutions.- Civil society, especially young people, should bemore organized and involved in the fight againstviolent extremism.- Avoid “amalgam” of communities- Promoting human rights and human dignity for all.

Methods to counter violent extremism in Mali- Create dialogue intra and inter communities byinvolving religious and traditional leaders- Raise awareness among vulnerable groups (youth,and women) On the culture of peace, tolerance, andcitizenship- Transparency, Accountability and rule of law- Decentralization and transfer of resources andskills- Fight cronyism and creating a legal and fiscalcompetition- Strengthen civil society

Action Plan:

From 6 to 10 November 2015 was held in the hotel ONOMO Bamako, the first workshop on « the role and place of Malian youth in the fight against violent extremism» organized by TICVE-Building Peace and Think Peace Mali. 53 young leaders, from all regions of Mali (North, South and the district of Bamako) have adopted the following action plan:

1- Develop a youth network in Mali to counter Violent Extremism

The participants:

- Will restore the knowledge gained in the workshop on the role and place of Malian youth to counter violent extremism in their localities.

- Will create and will strengthen a CVE network of young people in their communities.

- And will create a Facebook page and a mailing list

2- Organizing prevention campaigns, advocacy, information and

communication on countering violent extremism through

- Public debates in their communities on violent extremism and how to counter it.

- Organize women debate in each region on the role of women to counter violent extremism

- Participation in radio broadcasts to raise awareness on CVE.

- Exchange with religious leaders and traditional chiefs

- Awareness campaigns on CVE on social networks.

3- Advocate for a commitment of the state, local authorities, technical and financial partners and civil society

through

- Round Tables with stakeholders. - Press conferences in each locality to

engage the press in the fight against violent extremism.

- Articles, Publications and reports on countering violent extremism.

4- Supporting communities through financial and technical partnerships

- I d e n t i f y i n g a n d f a c i l i t a t i n g t h e professional integration of vulnerable young people through mentorship programs.

- Raising awareness and reintegration of ex-extremists so they can share their stories with young people to prevent future recruitment by violent extremist groups.

- Putting in place a monitoring mechanism to follow up with vulnerable youth.

We, the CVE youth network, will put our efforts

to Counter Violent Extremism and rebuild Peace in Mali.