UN General Assembly sidelines: Strong Cities Network champions urban strategies against hate and extremism

Strong Cities Network is hosted by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. It is a global independent network comprising over 245 local governments that are dedicated to enhancing city-led efforts to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation. On 25 September, the Network held an event titled "Global Crises, Local Impacts: How Cities are Responding to Rising Hate, Extremism and Polarisation" on the margins of the high-level week of the 79^th UN General Assembly in New-York.

The event was organised with the assistance of the European Union (EU), as part of the EU's STRIVE Cities initiative. It was attended by 60 representatives of central governments and international and civil society organisations such as the UN, Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF), the Christchurch Call Foundation and others, as well as mayors and senior city officials from different regions.

It featured a series of interactive panels and keynotes covering diverse topics. These included the hate and extremist threats in online and offline landscapes, the impact of the global crises on this landscapes and the role of local governments and other local actors in mitigating such impacts through city-led public safety reforms.

In his opening remarks, the EU's Counter Terrorism Coordinator, Bartjan Wegter, reiterated the EU's commitment to support action against hate and extremism led by local governments. He stated that "the innovations and solutions [of local governments] can be more effective than international solutions," acknowledging that cities should support the implementation of "national and supernational" counterterrorism strategies.

In the discussion panel on the online threat landscape, panellists underlined that the local impacts of global crises are being exacerbated by conspiracy and hate-motivated narratives online. They pointed to the need to equip local governments with the tools and data related to online monitoring of hate and extremism to enable them to prevent online harms from escalating to physical violence. Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Under-Secretary General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, UN, underlined that local governments can support UN and other international efforts to address hate speech by providing insight into the "coded language" that is increasingly used in different local contexts to sow hatred.

The event also underscored the importance of community-based partnerships. Local governments should treat the community members and civil society as partners in public safety efforts, rather than just beneficiaries of such efforts. This is the approach of Newark, New Jersey, with Mayor Ras Baraka sharing that this has led to a significant decrease in crime in his city. Asking the communities about their biggest safety concerns and how the public safety can be strengthened can lead to more efficient use of city resources to address these problems.

Speaking in a panel on early-warning capacity, the Mayor Florence Namayanja of Masaka City (Uganda) underlined that working with young people as partners and changemakers, rather than just perceiving them as a vulnerable demographic, can help cities be more efficient. With support from the EU-funded ESA Regional Hub, the Mayor established a Youth Committee that serves as a platform for youth to constructively engage on prevention of hate and extremism.

In summary, the event highlighted the fact that local governments are well-placed to address the insecurities that may drive hate and extremism, including in partnership with local communities and other local actors. There is a need for greater global-local cooperation in both the development and implementation of relevant peace and security frameworks and policies.

More info: The EU's STRIVE Cities initiative supports the Strong Cities Network's East and Southern Africa (ESA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Hubs. These Hubs help cities and local governments to play a stronger role in the prevention of violent extremism, by offering technical support, ensuring exchanges of good practices, peer-learning, support to local initiatives etc. City-to-city exchanges, community empowerment, human rights-based and gender-sensitive approaches are key elements fostering a culture of prevention and responding to hate and extremism at local level.

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