Voice of Youth against Violent Radicalisation and Extremism

The project "Voice of Youth against Violent Radicalisation and Extremism", supported by UNESCO, was implemented in partnership by The Interactive Education and Resource Network - IMOR - Macedonia and the Foundation for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation of Disputes - Albania.

The overall project objective was to contribute in preventing violent extremism and radicalisation on / through Internet via equipping youth from Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia) with competences and skills, aiming to further build bridges of peace and understanding by ICTs based collaborative activities.
The project was implemented in Elbasan, where two youth camps were organized - a camp with young activists from religious communities and a camp with high school students and teachers attended by about 80 participants. Young activists from religious communities were selected in cooperation with the religious leaders of the respective communities. The camp with students and teachers was organized at "Luigj Gurakuqi" High School.

During these camps, youth were trained on topics such as: how to use the internet and social networks safely and effectively; what the threats on the Internet are and how to recognize and  avoid them; recognize radicalism; online extremism and reporting; critical thinking; building dialogue across borders and cultures; demonstrating understanding and promoting tolerance etc.

Youth activists, students and educators, who attended the camps, were engaged and conducted community outreach activities. Those meetings were attended by 116 participants, youth, teachers and parents.

During the implementation of the project, youth from the school and community from Albania and Macedonia communicated and reflected their contribution in a web platform set up to exchange ideas between peer and foster collaboration (See link: noextremism)

About 37 youth students and activists from “Luigj Gurakuqi”  school became active part of the online collaborative platform by providing their thoughts about preventing radicalism and violent extremism.

Intercultural diversity and social networks were the main topics that were discussed among youth. Given the project evaluation process, they considered as very important the information obtained in cooperation with each other at the joint meetings.

Safely and effectively using the internet and social networks to prevent violent extremism/radicalism in youth age groups is a good start for them. Participants expressed their interest in online co-operation activities with youth from Macedonia.