On 31 October, UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, opened the International Conference on the International Conference on “Internet and the Radicalization of Youth: Preventing, Acting and Living together” held in Quebec, in the presence of the Minister of International relations of Quebec, H.E. Christine St-Pierre.
The Conference opened with a powerful appeal from Ms Celine Dion, UNESCO Artist for Peace, and saw words also by Quebec Minister Ms Weil and the Mayor of Quebec, Régis Lebeaume.
“Violent extremism seeks to impose a sectarian vision of society, and propaganda is a central element of its strategy,” declared the Director-General.
“Anonymous, decentralized and easy to access – Internet is a boon for extremists.”
“Today, together, we want to affirm that Internet is also above all an opportunity for peace,” she continued, underscoring that young women and men are not victims, but leaders committed to countering violence and to building peace.
“I see this as a new global struggle of ideas, a struggle for hearts and minds,” said the Director-General. “Young women and men must have knowledge to claim humanity’s cultural heritage and diversity as their own – and they must have skills to build dialogue through diversity. This means nurturing the Internet’s full potential for peace."
"We are living in an era of paradox," said the Minister of International relations of Quebec, H.E. Christine St-Pierre, of deep interconnections and also rising violent extremism. In this context, she underlined the deep commitment of Quebec, building on universal values, human rights and dignity.
Mr Jean-Paul Laborde, Assistant Secretary General, spoke on behalf of the UN Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, underlining the vital need for tolerance, diversity and mutual respect to spearhead new joint actions to prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism.
“To move forward, we must place young women and men at the front of all action to prevent violent extremism, to bolster their role in building lasting peace in their communities, and beyond, both offline and on,” said Irina Bokova.
“We must empower young women and men, to advance human rights and dignity… to deepen the foundations for peace.”
Irina Bokova thanked the Government of Quebec for its leadership in this field, embodied, notably in the announcement of support to UNESCO, with the UN CCT, to prevent violent extremism through youth empowerment in Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as the proposed new UNESCO Chair on Preventing Radicalisation and Violent Extremism in Quebec.
The International Conference is designed to provide a platform for discussion between high level representatives of Governments for across the world – including Mr Martin Coiteux, Minister for Public Security (Quebec); Representative of the Government of Canada, Mr Amadou Koïta, Minister of Youth and Civic Construction (Mali) ; Mr Hector Leonel Ayala Minister of Governance and Justice (Honduras); Mr Rachid Madrane, Minister of Youth Aid, Houses of Justice, Sports and Promotion of Brussels to the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (Belgium); Ms Juliette Méadel, Minister of State for Victim Assistance (France).
The Quebec International Conference is a follow up to the first ever conference on the subject, “Youth and the Internet: Fighting Radicalization,” organized by UNESCO in June last year.
In its work against violent radicalization, UNESCO is promoting global citizenship education, media and information literacy, skills for intercultural dialogue and initiatives to stimulate civic engagement and promote counter narratives on all platforms both on and offline.
Some 400 participants have come together in Quebec, at this international conference organized by UNESCO, its Information for All Programme, and the Government of Quebec, with the support of the Government of Canada, to explore how to prevent the rise of violent extremism and radicalisation of young people on the Internet.
These activities reflect UNESCO’s commitment to promoting peace and respect for diversity and human rights, including freedom of expression. They are also organized in the context of UN-wide decisions: Resolution 2250, of the UN General Assembly, which recognizes the essential role that young people, the internet and information networks play in sustainable development, peace and security. It particularly focuses on the role of young people in building peace and the fight against violent extremism, and the United Nations Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, adopted earlier this year, which stresses the need to link legal responses, security measures and persuasion strategies in this regard.
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