In September 2013, CGCC and Hedayah, the International Center of Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism, co-hosted an expert roundtable on the role of education in countering violent extremism. As Tony Blair recently noted in a statement to the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, education is a critical component of the fight against terrorism and extremism. “Force will only contain it (terrorism), not solve it. To solve it, we need to uproot extremists’ thinking,” he told the group of high level diplomats, UN officials and civil society representatives.

The expert roundtable co-hosted by CGCC and Hedayah explored a series of critical questions relating to education and countering violent extremism (CVE), and identified a number of potential areas and projects where the two fields of practice could complement one another. Following this roundtable and drawing on its key findings, Hedayah hosted a meeting for senior officials representing Global Counter-Terrorism Forum member states, the United Nations, and experts and civil society groups like the Sanneh Foundation that promotes youth engagement and development through soccer.

Drawing on these discussions, CGCC and Hedayah produced a meeting note capturing the key issues and a set of recommendations to strengthen education and CVE efforts globally.