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The Department of Political Affairs (DPA) is conducting a symposium on “Preventing ViolentExtremism”.The Secretary-General’s Plan of Action on Preventing Violent Extremism (A/70/674) highlightsthe need to look into the agenda item through this extract:“In its resolution 2178 (2014), the Security Council makes explicit the link betweenviolent extremism and terrorism, underscores the importance of measures being in linewith international norms and recognizes the need for prevention: “violent extremism,which can be conducive to terrorism”, requires collective efforts, “including preventingradicalization, recruitment and mobilization of individuals into terrorist groups andbecoming foreign terrorist fighters”. In that resolution, the Council “calls upon MemberStates to enhance efforts to counter this kind of violent extremism”, recognizing that“international cooperation and any measures taken by Member States to prevent andcombat terrorism must comply fully with the Charter of the United Nations”. Definitionsof “terrorism” and “violent extremism” are the prerogative of Member States and must beconsistent with their obligations under international law, in particular international humanrights law. Just as the General Assembly has taken a practical approach to counter -terrorism through the adoption by consensus of the United Nations Global Counter -Terrorism Strategy, this Plan of Action pursues a practical approach to preventing violentextremism, without venturing to address questions of definition. ” 1The Department of Political Affairs is conducting this symposium to solicit the opinions ofmember states, their perceptions about the issue at hand and also a collective response to thethreat of violent extremism and what our approach should be.1 Para 5, Secretary-General’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism (A/70/674).Available online athttp://undocs.org/A/70/674

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The Mandate of the DPAThe DPA is a Secretariat body which coordinates the various political functions of the UnitedNations such as mandating good offices and Special Political Missions for conflict resolution,coordinating and harmonizing various political ends of the United Nations as well as mappingfuture conflicts and trying to provide the information necessary for the various agencies, bodiesand organs of the UN to deploy their resources to prevent conflict.To that end, the DPA does not have member state representation and it works under theSecretariat. The conference will not generate a binding document but will contribute as animportant knowledge-sharing platform for member state representatives and their constituents.Format. The conference will be divided into multiple panel discussions discussing a sub-theme.Each member state representative is required to enroll themselves on a panel and make apresentation on the concerned subject of the sub-theme. The Representative is expected tomake a presentation which contributes to larger knowledge-building efforts to the theme athand. The Representative is required to fill out a Google Form( https://goo.gl/forms/WNxgwEBCn3CqICfv2) specifying their preference of panel. It must benoted that the panels are subject to availability and that a representative may not get the panelof their choice but the Secretariat will be doing its best to ensure that the preferences areaccommodated to their furthest possible extent. Panels will be allotted to you afterconsideration of delegate preferences and communicated to you at the earliest. Requests tochange to another panel may not be considered. The topic will have to be discussed with thebureau (USG and ASG) before it is finalized. A panel may have up to four speakers and lastsup to an hour. Each Representative presents for a time period not exceeding 10 minutes. Afterall panelists have completed their presentations, the floor is open to the audience for a questionand answer round. The panel discussion will not exceed an hour in total. The UnderSecretary-General and the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs will moderate thepanel discussions. Delegates have creative freedoms within the panel that is allocated to them,to choose a specific topic and the approach with which they want to present. It is up to thedelegate whether or not they wish to use Powerpoint or any other audio-visual media for theirpresentation. While it would be appropriate for the delegate to use their national experience tomake their case, a mere statement of national position on an issue is not valuable enough for awhole presentation. Delegates will also have to submit a paper in about 1,500-2,000 wordsabout their presentation which will be compiled to create the conference report. This paperneeds to be submitted before 17th September 2018. Guidelines on how to write this paper, alongwith other supporting documents will be circulated soon.

The Panels

Addressing the Root causes of Violent ExtremismThis panel would discuss topics such as social, economic and other anthropological factors thatgive rise to Violent Extremism such as the emergence of conservative governments, large-scaleunemployment, disparities, state action and selection, influence of external actors, religious

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fundamentalism and other such factors.

Conceptual concerns in Violent ExtremismThis panel would discuss the conceptual challenges of Violent Extremism such as thedefinitional problem of violent extremism, its differences and similarities with radicalization,terrorism and what that means for national legislation to combat the problem, and thechallenges these conceptual concerns pose to international law.

Radicalization, De-Radicalization and Violent ExtremismThis panel would discuss issues such as the process by which Violent Extremism turns intoterrorist activity and recourse to violence, various models of de-radicalization and theireffectiveness, specific spaces which are at risk of radicalization such as residential colonies,religious spaces, educational institutions and prisons.

Violent Extremism, Justice and Rule of LawThis panel would discuss issues of law and its role in Violent Extremism, such as judicial dueprocess in processing of terrorism suspects or individuals who are at risk for radicalization, therole of surveillance and privacy in countering violent extremism, and other legal issues.

Media and Violent ExtremismThis panel would discuss the role of media in its various forms such as the role of social media,mainstream narratives, censorship, journalistic ethics, the intersection between freedom ofspeech and expression and efforts to prevent Violent Extremism, and other media-relatedissues.

The United Nations System and Tackling Violent ExtremismThis panel would discuss the role of the United Nations system in implementing theSecretary-General’s Plan of Action on Preventing Violent Extremism (A/70/674), the role of thevarious agencies and executive bodies in implementing the plan of action, assessment andimprovements. This panel would discuss external factors such as the role of regional politicsand how political processes create conditions for exclusion of various groups, which contributesto Violent Extremism. Larger questions of marginalization due to exclusionary national policiessuch as citizenship laws, allocations and the like would be some of the issues covered.

Protection of Human RightsThis panel would discuss the place of human rights in Violent Extremism, such as human rightsviolations and its role in creating grievances, violations of human rights explicitly and implicitlyand how they can be protected better within national systems to combat Violent Extremism.The Role of Political Processes and Violent Extremism This panel would specifically discussissues pertaining to political processes such as the role of free and fair elections, the role ofnegotiations, democratization and other forms of political activities in the perpetration of Violent

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Extremism, and the measures to ensure that populations are protected during these politicalprocesses.

Tips on Preparing the PresentationIt is expected that the delegate will provide a well-researched presentation with a certainexpertise and depth. For this, pick a topic after carefully considering your interests and thematerial available on that subject for you to provide an interesting perspective on that subject. Itis preferable if you have multiple topics in mind, in case your topic overlaps with that of anotherpanelist. Topics should be narrow and should have something new to say. General topics arenot desirable. Your presentation should have a clear argument and in some way should reflectyour national concerns and domestic policy. Try to be as crisp and clear with your argument aspossible given the time limit you have. Other delegates will be asking you questions about yourpresentation after the panel has completed its discussion. This is also when you can probablyexpand on the ideas that you have shown us in the presentation. Your responses should alsoreflect your state’s national interests. Document all the sources that you use in the process ofpreparing your presentation very carefully. Your work must have a high standard of academicintegrity. In your Powerpoint presentation (if you are using it) and your paper, you must have aBibliography/Reference page which lists your sources. Use more diversified sources to makegood arguments, ranging from government records to opinions of scholars. While statistics go along way, try to not make the presentation exclusively about numbers. Statistics is used to givecredence or evidence to an argument, but it is not an argument by itself.

EvaluationYou will be evaluated on the basis of the following broad parameters:● Presentation● Strength of Arguments (use of diversified sources, evidence, and research)● Foreign and Domestic Policy (Agenda-setting within the process and how far yourthoughts match your state’s priorities)● Demeanor (response to criticism, and overall conduct)

ReferencesFollowing are resources that you may use to decide your topic and also to make yourpresentation. Please note that you don’t have to stick to these sources and you may seek outyour own. The last section contains bibliographies and reading lists to other sources which willbe useful to you for further reading and to expand your reach. Similarly, if you strongly feel thatyou wish to do a topic that falls outside the scope of the panels that have already been set,please get in touch with the bureau so that we could work out the modalities and try toaccommodate your presentation within the larger scheme of things.

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Journal Articles/Readings● Countering Violent Extremism in Indonesia: Bringing Back the Jihadistshttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10357823.2017.1323848● Combating the Cult of ISIS: A Social Approach to Countering Violent Extremismhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15570274.2017.1354458● Peacebuilding Approaches to Preventing and Transforming Violent Extremismhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15423166.2017.1338860● Pathways to Violent Extremism in the Digital Erahttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071847.2013.847714● Pathways to Violent Radicalisation in the Middle East: A Model for Future Studies ofTransnational Jihadhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071840902965570● Mechanisms of Political Radicalization: Pathways Toward Terrorismhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09546550802073367?src=recsys● Countering Violent Extremism in Prisons: A Review of Key Recent Research and Critical

Research Gaps

http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/640/html● Countering Violent Extremism with Governance Networkshttp://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/564● Towards Academic Consensus Definitions of Radicalism and Extremismhttp://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/623/html● Preventing Violent Extremism through Developmenthttps://www.sida.se/globalassets/sida/eng/where-we-work/for-partners/s209461_thematicoverview_preventing_violent_extremism_webb-003_final.pdf● Preventing Violent Extremism through the United Nationshttps://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/images/ia/INTA94_2_02_Ucko.pdf●Women and Preventing Violent Extremismhttps://chrgj.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Women-and-Violent-Extremism-The-US-and-UKExperiences.pdf● Youth and Violent Extremism on Social Mediahttp://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002603/260382e.pdf● Terrorism, Radicalization and De-radicalizationhttps://nvvb.nl/media/cms_page_media/694/Terrorism%2C%20radicalization%20and%20de-radicalization.pdf

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Video Resources

● Preventing Violent Extremism: The Challenges Aheadhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IQ0Tt7wK5w● How young people join violent extremist groups -- and how to stop them | Erin MarieSaltmanhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY71088saG4● A Different Route to Countering Violent Extremism: What Works?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-PsH357hdc● Preventing Violent Extremism Through Educationhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znXeg_fi-A0●Women Preventing Violent Extremism: Charting a New Coursehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41WcgwJCnBM● Countering Violent Extremism: Prevention and Lessons Learnedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFKqUhFnLm8●Why violent extremist narratives resonatehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-6KniTPe6Y

Bibliographies and Reading Lists

● Bibliography on Countering Violent Extremismhttp://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/339/html● Twenty Important Journal Articles and Reports on Radicalisation to, and De-Radicalisationfrom Terrorismhttp://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/234/html● Selected Literature on (i) Radicalization and Recruitment, (ii) De-Radicalization andDis-Engagement, and (iii) Counter-Radicalization and Countering Violent Extremismhttp://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/235/html● Bibliography: Root Causes of Terrorismhttp://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/627/html

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Contact UsThe Bureau of the DPA conference constitutes of the Under Secretary-General (PoliticalAffairs)and Assistant Secretary-General (Political Affairs) and ably assisted by our SubstantiveDirector who can all be contacted by email. Please feel free to approach us for all your queriesas we’d be happy to work with you through the process.

Ashwath Komath (Under Secretary-General) –ashwathkomath.pmun@gmail.comAdelaida Rojas Lleras (Assistant Secretary-General) - mar970913@gmail.comShubhangi Mallik (Substantive Director) – mallikshubhangi238@gmail.com