Our Activities in 2018

The work of the Foundation reaches all corners of the globe. Our work depends on donors and partners from around the world, and in addition to our Geneva headquarters, our team have relationships with organisations and partners on the ground in over 25 countries. Below is a selection of our activities throughout 2018.

 

 

North and South America

United States

Kofi Annan met with leading figures from the technology industry and social media companies in Silicon Valley to discuss the impact of digital technology on electoral integrity.

Extremely Together partnered with the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) to organise an event on Youth perspectives on preventing violent extremism during the United Nations General Assembly.

Mexico

The Foundation’s Electoral Integrity Initiative, in association with six partners from Mexico and the region, hosted a conference on Electoral Integrity in Latin America in the run-up to the most significant vote in the country’s history. During the conference, Kofi Annan and Laura Chinchilla, former President of Costa Rica, met with political leaders and the Mexican Electoral Commission to discuss how to avoid electoral violence and strengthen the of integrity the elections.

 

Europe

United Kindom

Extremely Together Young Leaders Fatima Zaman and Ilwad Elman each spoke about their experiences preventing and countering violent extremism at several events across the country.

France

The Extremely Together team hosted training sessions at the Youth Platform of the European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) in Nice.

Norway

Extremely Together’s Bjørn Ihler pursued creative ways to counter extreme right-wing narratives, including the submission of opinion editorials, training sessions and talks, on behalf of Extremely Together.

Germany

Mr Annan participated in the Munich Security Conference and announced his intention to convene a high-level Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age.

Denmark

In association with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foundation presented a report of the Lessons Learned from the Rakhine Advisory Commission, aimed at assisting and strengthening peacebuilding efforts in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Greece

The Foundation participated in the 2018 Athens Democracy Forum where, in conjunction with the New York Times and Facebook, it held a special memorial for Mr Annan and hosted a discussion on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age.

Switzerland

The Foundation launched its report ‘Challenging the Conventional: Making Post-Violence Reconciliation Succeed’ in partnership with Interpeace during Geneva Peace Week.

Extremely Together’s Mimoun Berrissoun shared his work to prevent youth crime and radicalisation in Germany at the Geneva Peace Week event.

Mr Annan participated in a high-level session on water hosted by the World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva to discuss the links between water, food security and climate.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr. Annan participated in a discussion on the Africa Agriculture Transformation Scorecard, which was hosted by Bill Gates, the then chairman of the African Union, Paul Kagame and the then Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Dessalegn.

Belgium

Extremely Together’s Bjørn Ihler joined the EU Conference on Youth, Peace and Security in Brussels to advocate for the empowerment of young people to prevent violent extremism.

The Netherlands

Extremely Together trained the One Young World (OYW) Peace Ambassadors in using communication campaigns to prevent violent extremism at the OYW Summit in The Hague.

Sweden

Extremely Together’s Ilwad Elman shared best-in-class examples of Somali youth engagement in peace and countering violent extremism (CVE) processes during Almedalen Week – one of the world’s largest democratic forums.

Portugal

The Foundation and Extremely Together participated in the development of policy recommendations on the use of education to prevent violent extremism at the Club de Madrid’s policy dialogue for Shared Societies in Lisbon.

 

Africa

West Africa region

With our partners, the Foundation promoted evidence-based drug policy reform in West Africa.

Together with the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), the Foundation launched a Model Drug Law to support the design and implementation of evidence-based drug policies and laws across West Africa.

Rwanda

The Foundation and the African Development Bank co-hosted a panel discussion on intra-African food trade and market integration at the 2018 African Economic Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.

Nigeria

Extremely Together’s Jonah Obajeun advocated for education-based solutions to prevent radicalisation and extremism.

Uganda

Extremely Together’s Ndugwa Hassan and Ilwad Elman provided training to young civil society activists in preventing violent extremism in Kampala and set up a Uganda Chapter to continue raising awareness of the threat of violent extremism and of the need to address current youth marginalisation.

Somalia

Extremely Together Young Leader Ilwad Elman led an Extremely Together training in Mogadishu. The participants have established themselves as a Somalia Chapter to disseminate their PVE knowledge among vulnerable youth living in IDP camps.

Libya

Extremely Together Young Leader Hajer Sharief worked to engage women and young people in peacebuilding.

Democratic Republic of Congo

At the request of the main opposition political parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Foundation invited leading presidential candidates to Geneva and mediated an accord by which they agreed to unite behind one candidate for the presidential election.

Morocco

The Extremely Together team led training to empower young Moroccans, including students, school children, Imams and social entrepreneurs, to prevent violent extremism.

South Sudan

An Extremely Together workshop was held in Juba with young civil society activists, journalists and human rights defenders on CVE in South Sudan, and combatting violent extremism on a regional and global scale.

Benin

The Foundation and Extremely Together ran an awareness raising workshop on violent extremism at the Junior Chamber International Africa and the Middle East Conference in Cotonou.

Zimbabwe

In partnership with the Elders, Mr Annan travelled to Zimbabwe with Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi to urge all voters and candidates to reject violence at all stages in the electoral process and work together to ensure a free, fair and transparent election.

 

The Middle East and Asia

Pakistan

Extremely Together’s Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi focused on the role of civil society to counter extremism through mass mobilisation campaigns, arts and culture.

The Philippines

Extremely Together’s Arizza Nocum promoted education and interfaith dialogue to prevent violent extremism.

United Arab Emirates

Extremely Together Young Leader and Syrian refugee Zaid Al Rayes worked to create economic opportunities for vulnerable youth to show alternatives to violent extremism.

India

The Foundation and Extremely Together shared their lessons on advocacy for PVE and how young people lead change at the Junior Chamber International’s global congress in Goa.

Malaysia

The Foundation and local partners presented the report of the Foundation sponsored conference on Democracy in Southeast Asia.

Following the victory of the Pakatan Harapan and the first change of the political party in power in Malaysia’s history, the Foundation convened a roundtable on electoral reform with local stakeholders to identify steps necessary to improve the integrity of the Malaysian electoral process.