Dakar, Senegal, 19 to 21 November 2024
Nouakchott, Mauritania, 16 to 18 December 2024
69 law enforcement and women leaders in Senegal and Mauritania (43 women) participated in 2 national workshops on the prevention of violent extremism. The community leaders included Mourchidates (in Mauritania); Badienou Gokh and Ndeyou Daaras (in Senegal). The purpose was to increase women participation in security efforts and promote community-based approach in countering violent extremism.
UNODC is implementing a project in the 2 countries to foster engagement and empowering of women in PVE and to support civil-military dialogue. The project funded by Federal Republic of Germany intends to leverage the experience of the Mauritanian Mourchidates in Senegal and Coastal countries while consolidating Mourchidates’s intervention in Mauritania.
In Senegal, after the launch of the project, the first activity increased knowledge on violent extremism and its risks for 32 actors including 17 women leaders, police officer’s gendarmerie and magistrates based in Senegal's border areas with Mauritania and Mali. The comprehension of the threat of violent extremism was reinforced, one police officer based in Matam reported to be “more aware of the danger and possible threats than before taking part to the workshop”.
The actors admitted stability in the 2 countries but underscored endogenous and exogenous threats with incidents that raised questions e.g. the escape of several terrorist detainees in April 2023 from Nouakchott central prison; 4 men arrested by the gendarmerie in January 2021 in border town of Kidira between Senegal and Mali. The event led to the development of concrete proposals and commitments to improve civil-military dialogue, a police officer from Podor promised to strengthen consultation and collaboration with local women leaders, as “it is more useful and effective to build links with women for intelligence purposes than with the chiefs to whom we traditionally turn to”.
In Mauritania, the framework between women leaders and authorities to prevent expansion of violent extremism existed as reported by Mourchidates who praised UNODC for strongly contributing to build and facilitate the support of Ministry of Islamic Affairs through its PVE unit, Cellrad i.e. Antenne Nationale de Lutte contre la Radicalisation et l’Extrémisme Violent. Mourchidates trained on diffusion of peaceful speech and communication by Cellrad and UNODC conducted awareness-raising activities jointly with representative of judiciary, administration and law enforcement.in 6 prisons including female prisons, mosques and youth centers reaching several hundred of individuals.
The workshop in Mauritania was evaluated positively by the 15 newly Mourchidates who considered it relevant as it allowed them to improve their knowledge on violent extremism and met the Meharists from Garde Nationale, police, Gendarmerie and magistrates.
One Mourchidates based in Guidimakha estimated the contacts and networking with law enforcement and judicial will “allow her to help her community as she knows who to bring cases of victims and witnesses to as a social worker”. Participants of Senegal and Mauritania emphasized the need to continue to build conficence between law enforcement and community and “break the fear”. The efforts during the Project should continue to promote among law enforcement, the importanct role of women in PVE.
Two high leval representatives of Garde Nationale in Mauritania and of the Counter-terrorism unit in Senegal concluded that security is not a misssion dedicated to security forces only; thus its crucial to maintain the strategy of involving civil society including women, youth religious and traditional leaders for more effective prevention of violent extremism.
The representatives of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Senegal and Mauritania, Ms Uta Kühn and Mr Reinhard Uhlig respectively, reaffirmed Germany's support for the participation of women as key players in the prevention of violent extremism.