Extremely Together brings together young leaders to foster peace and social cohesion through youth-led initiatives in regions including South and Southeast Asia, East Africa and the Sahel.
Launched in 2016 by the Kofi Annan Foundation, the initiative’s global network of 10 founding members and country chapters responds to the increasing threat of recruitment and narratives of violent extremist groups. By using a peer-to-peer approach, the youth-led initiative acts upon the gap in international and national efforts aimed at preventing violent extremism (PVE), where young people are understood as a threat to security rather than enablers of peace.
Extremely Together aims to give young people worldwide a sense of identity and purpose and help them work for positive change and peace in their communities.
By equipping young people with tools and knowledge as well as reinforcing alternative narratives and positive values of ‘togetherness’, Extremely Together seeks to enable youth to engage and play a leading role in peace and PVE at local, regional, and international fora.
“Any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left behind.”
Kofi Annan
Why should youth be included in peacebuilding and preventing violent extremism?
- 1 in 4 young people lives in settings affected by armed conflict or organised violence.
- The overwhelming majority of those who join violent extremist groups are youth. While this only represents a small proportion of young people worldwide, it fuels the stereotype of young people as a threat to security.
- When young people are perceived as valuable resources that can inform many of the decisions that impact them, an improvement in the quality of the decisions that are made can be seen.
- The generation of new digital citizens is aged 18-29.
- Young people can be powerful agents for peace online and provide alternative narratives to the dividing content propagated by violent extremists on social media.
About Extremely Together
Kofi Annan knew that young people, when empowered, can be key agents for development and peace. He warned that if they are left on society’s margins, we will all be impoverished. Our Extremely Together initiative aims to ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in their societies’ lives.
What does Extremely Together do?
Capacity-building
The initiative’s 10 Extremely Together young leaders created the first-ever PVE toolkit by young people to young people. Since then, Extremely Together has produced a video toolkit for young people and a training guide for young activists to help train their peers on preventing violent extremism. These resources have been used in Morocco, Uganda, Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Benin, Germany, France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, India and Pakistan.
Youth-led projects and networks
Extremely Together Chapters are local networks that equip young people to reject the narratives of violent extremism, engage them in concrete actions to prevent violent extremism and promote togetherness within their communities. They use various approaches, such as theatre, arts, sports, dialogue, communication campaigns and training. The initiative has established local Extremely Together chapters in Uganda, Somalia, Pakistan, and the Philippines and has youth partners in Bangladesh, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Research and good practices
The creation of good practices on how to engage and mobilize young people in peace and PVE is embedded across ET’s action. The initiative has also produced regional research on the factors driving youth into violent extremism among urban youth in Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
Advocacy
Extremely Together advocates for youth leadership in peace and security, aiming to elevate young people’s voices and participation at the highest levels of national, regional and international decision- and policymaking. The initiative has facilitated speaking opportunities, publications and media engagements [for example, Time, The Independent, Bloomberg, the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Manila Times and the BBC.]
ET Leaders have advocated for youth inclusion in PVE at numerous events, including the UN General Assembly, the European Development Days, the Commonwealth Youth Forum and the African Union’s Youth Silencing the Guns conference. Extremely Together’s peer-to-peer approach was captured in the 2019 Youth Solutions Report launched at UN General Assembly.
Impact
Extremely Together
7000
Over 7,000 young people have been trained by Extremely Together in Africa, Asia and Europe on preventing violent extremism (PVE) in the past few years
Extremely Together’s local chapters in Africa and Asia have engaged nearly 15,000 young people in intergenerational dialogue, artistic performances, capacity building, and awareness campaigns to break prejudices and build cohesion
15000
100+
Violence prevention projects and campaigns have been implemented by Extremely Together’s youth networks across diverse cities and regions
Extremely Together has been recognized as a good practice and an avenue for implementing the Youth, Peace and Security agenda in the 2022 EU Youth Action Plan.
ET’s work in Asia was evaluated by an external agency, the Agency for Peacebuilding: “The peer-to-peer approach employed by the project, when matched with capacity building activities, proved to be an effective method to engage youth in preventing violent extremism (PVE). It responded to youth needs not only by increasing their engagement in PVE but also by developing their self-confidence, communication and leadership skills, which are particularly useful to them as they grow up, enter the job market and play an increasing role in their communities.”
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Regional & Local Chapters
Extremely Together
Between 2019 and 2022, we launched local Extremely Together chapters in the Philippines, Pakistan, Uganda, and Somalia. These are led by our Extremely Together Leaders Arizza Nocum, Ali Abbas, Hassan Ndugwa, and Ilwad Elman, respectively, and composed of tight networks of local youth driven by their interests in peacebuilding and the desire to eradicate violent extremism in their countries.
Extremely Together will expand to the Sahel region in partnership with local youth organizations from Niger and Burkina Faso. Watch this space!
Founding Members
Extremely Together
Arizza Nocum
Philippines
Arizza’s multi-faith background as the daughter of a Catholic father and a Muslim mother inspired her to use education as a tool to promote peace and tolerance.
Bjørn Ihler
Norway
Bjørn Ihler is an internationally renowned expert in countering and preventing radicalisation and violent extremism (C/PVE) through the design of healthier communities online and offline. In 2016, Bjørn co-founded the Khalifa-Ihler Institute which works to promote peace, human rights, and thriving communities. Through his work, Bjørn has worked with and advised local organisations, national governments, […]
Fatima Zaman
United Kingdom
Fatima Zaman is an activist of British Bengali heritage, specialising in women, peace and security. Having witnessed the London 7/7 Bombings, Fatima has dedicated her life to activism toward building peace, and security and overcoming extreme violence in conflict. Having served as an official to the UK Government, her work involved advising Government ministers and […]
Hajer Sharief
Libya
Hajer Sharief is a human rights advocate and the co-founder of “Together We Build It” Hajer Sharief promotes the participation of women and youth in peacebuilding efforts in Libya. The UN Secretary-General selected her to serve as a member of the Advisory Group of Experts for the Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security mandated […]
Ilwad Elman
Somalia
Ilwad Elman is a young female leader at the forefront of the Somali peace process and a global authority on ending conflict and preventing violent extremism. After the assassination of her father, prominent Somali peace activist Ilwad and her family became refugees, eventually finding asylum in Canada. Aged 19, she felt the responsibility to leave […]
Jonah Obajeun
Nigeria
Jonah Obajeun is a renowned activist from Nigeria committed to strengthening the social fabric of his community and working against the spread of violent extremism. After losing a business associate to a communal clash in 2008, Jonah started his journey to become an activist for peace, security and tolerance. Indeed, this painful experience triggered his […]
Mimoun Berrissoun
Germany
Mimoun Berrissoun is a social scientist, community organizer and peace advocate working at the intersection of prevention, equal rights and youth empowerment. In 2012, Mimoun founded 180 Grad Wende, a voluntary civil society initiative based in Germany. Tackling social inequality and the lack of awareness of the necessity of prevention among disadvantaged, radicalized youth in Europe, […]
Ndugwa Hassan
Uganda
Ndugwa Hassan is a Ugandan youth activist who co-founded the Uganda Muslim Youth Development Forum (UMYDF) after surviving the July 2010 Al-Shabaab bombings in Kampala. Hassan is the Executive Director of the UMYDF and his work focuses on strengthening youth and religious leaders’ capacities in conflict resolution, peacebuilding and the prevention of violent extremism. Ndunga […]
Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi
Pakistan
Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi is an aeronautical engineer who lost interest in aircraft at a certain point in his career. Looking for a greater purpose in life, he found his passion for social activism and development. Pursuing this dream, he founded the Pakistan Youth Alliance, Khudi, HIVE and Dil Say Pakistan over the years, to […]
Zaid Al Rayes
Syria
Zaid Al Rayes is a Syrian refugee and entrepreneur living in Dubai. Zaid experienced the realities of violent extremism and conflict in his country and grasped the challenges facing young refugees in accessing the job market. He has developed a business model to address these challenges and has succeeded in creating more than 500 jobs for […]
Publications + Media
Evaluation Report | Youth preventing violent extremism in urban South and Southeast Asia
The Kofi Annan Foundation is pleased to share the Evaluation Report for the “Leading the Way to Peace – Youth Together for Social Cohesion” project. This report summary presents the external evaluation findings by the Agency for Peacebuilding (AP) for the project. The “Leading the Way to Peace – Youth Together for Social Cohesion” project […]
Youth-led initiatives to prevent violent extremism: Inspiring practices from South & Southeast Asia
Together with a diverse group of civil society and youth-led organizations across South and Southeast Asia, we have assembled learnings and advice to help guide and inspire you on your own journey to build peace in your community. Then our new guide, Building Peace Together: Youth-led initiatives to prevent violent extremism, is for you! How was […]
We stand with the people of Afghanistan
A statement on the situation in Afghanistan by Extremely Together Young Leaders Arizza Nocum, Bjørn Ihler, Hajer Sharief and Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi. In the world of politicians and policymakers, diplomats and dignitaries, in the lecture halls of western universities and the offices of think tanks, it seems many have forgotten that terrorism is real. […]
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