ICSSI contributes to the launch of the Observatory to Prevent Extremist Violence (OPEV) and invites its members to join the platform and sign the Plan of Action of the Euro-Mediterranean civil society to Prevent Extremist Violence

From January 28th to 30th, Barcelona hosted the conference “Towards a new paradigm: Preventing Violent Extremism”, involving 322 people representing 172 institutions from 22 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. The conference, co-organized by NOVACT and the CMODH and with the key participation of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) and the Iraqi Social Forum (ISF), released a civil society Plan of Action for the Euro-Mediterranean region for the prevention of ALL forms of violent extremism. As a regional and transnational agreement, the Action Plan is endowed with objectives and 91 activities.  Measures include the creation of an Observatory for the Prevention of Extremist Violent (OPEV), which take care of the implementation and monitoring of the Action Plan. It will act as the platform for the signatory organizations.

The Plan of Action is a firm commitment of the region’s civil society to the prevention of extremism. The coalition established to include in the current definition of violent extremism ALL forms of violent extremism, avoiding the stigmatization of any group in particular. It also emphasizes the enormous cost in human rights due to anti-terrorist policies and denounces the use of violent extremism in order to justify the stigmatization of social movements and civil society organizations working in the field of human rights.

The ICSSI invites its members and friends organisations and movements to join the platform