Over 100 students debated youth policy and ways to prevent the growth of radicalism as part of an International Alert project in Tajikistan. In October 2010, International Alert worked with a number of talented students who facilitated five roundtable debates aimed at fostering dialogue and a common understanding of the causes and remedies of the religious radicalisation of youth in Tajikistan.
This project is part of International Alert’s work in Tajikistan on the counter-radicalisation of youth and on the development of a national government policy to address the needs of young people.
The student-facilitators first underwent their own 10-day programme of training at a summer camp which brought together 70 students from across the country and from different religious and secular backgrounds. The objective of the camp was to increase participants’ understanding of youth policy, democracy, civil participation, secular-religious relations and to provide space for meaningful dialogue between secular and religious youth. The ten most active students were offered the chance to facilitate debates with other fellow students and they took part in a training course in September aimed to develop their organisational and facilitation skills.
Student roundtables were recently held in the capital Dushanbe, as well as in the towns of Khudjand, Qurghon-Teppa (Kurgan-Tyube) and Kulob (Kulyab). Participants discussed the causes of the increased influence of radical Islam among youth and measures that can stop young people from turning to radical ideas. The issues discussed during these student debates were later presented to the policy working groups which are developing a policy on the prevention of radicalism among youth in Tajikistan.
Alert facilitated these roundtables run by adn for young people to increase their engagement in policy development and ownership of youth policies. Key findings so far from the roundtables point to varied and systemic causes for radicalisation of youth in Tajikistan. For instance, in a recent workshop, participants reported that the absence of economic opportunities, lack of education and respect for education, lack of leisure facilities for young people, and lack of confidence amongst young people in Tajikistan, mean that they are more vulnerable to religious radicalisation.
The project was implemented by International Alert in partnership with the local organisation Youth & Society, with funding from the OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the Civil Conflict Resolution (Zivik) programme of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations of the Federal Republic of Germany.