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  • Extremely Together Chapters

    Discover our local Extremely Together Chapters in the Philippines, Pakistan, Uganda, and Somalia – with more coming soon!

    Extremely Together chapters

     
  • The Kofi Annan Changemakers

    A group of 12 exceptional young changemakers will embark upon a journey to tackle some of the most pressing challenges that they face in their efforts to secure change.

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  • Building Peace Together

    Extremely Together launched a new guide on youth-led initiatives to prevent violent extremism. find out inspiring practices from young peacebuilders in and Southeast Asia.

    See the guide

     
  • 4 things peacebuilders want you to know

    As ET Somalia and Uganda celebrate their 1st anniversary, they reflect on what they’ve learned after a year like no other.

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  • Celebrating Women in Leadership

    We are committed to promoting gender, inclusion and equality through our work.

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  • Interfaith harmony in PVE

    Extremely Together Young Leaders Jonah and Hassan on the importance of interfaith dialogue in preventing violent extremism.

    THE FULL INTERVIEW

     
  • Youth leadership must no longer be ignored!

    Excluding youth from decision-making and peace efforts is detrimental to society – find out why.

    DISCOVER THE POSITION PAPER

     
  • Preventing Violent Extremism in Somalia & Uganda

    Thanks to our Young Leaders, Extremely Together is scaling up its activities to prevent violent extremism in Somalia & Uganda.

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  • Countering violent
    extremism

    A Peer-to-Peer Guide for Young People.

    Learn more

     
  • The Missing Bridge between Young Refugees & Countering Extremism

    Read the latest blog from Zaid Al Rayes of Syria.

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Extremely Together

A global youth-led initiative that aims to empower young people to prevent violent extremism

Launched in 2016 by the Kofi Annan Foundation, the initiative’s global network of 10 young leaders and country chapters responds to the increasing threat of recruitment and narratives of violent extremist groupsBy 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 provide a sense of identity and purpose to young people worldwide, helping 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 Togetheseeks to enable youth to engage and play a leading role in peace and PVE at local, regional, and international fora. 

“Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation.”– Kofi Annan

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, all of us will be impoverished. Our Extremely Together initiative aims to ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies.

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.

What does Extremely Together do?

Capacity-building

The initiative’s 10 Extremely Together young leaders from 10 different countries are experts in PVE through their own initiatives and experiences. They have created the first ever PVE toolkit by young people to young people, which has been used to train young people 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 four local chapters in Uganda, Somalia, Pakistan, and the Philippines and has on the ground presence in Bangladesh.

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 Young 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.

Extremely Together Local Chapters

In 2020, we launched four local 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.

In 2022, Extremely Together seeks to establish a presence in the Sahel region and has already started dialogues with two local organizations in Niger and Burkina Faso. Watch this space!

Click the map to learn more about our Chapters around the world.

The Extremely Together Young Leaders

  • Extremely Together - An initiative with the next generation to counter violent extremism
  • Extremely Together at One Young World Ottawa
  • Kofi Annan
  • Fatima Zaman
  • Hassan Ndugwa
  • Ilwad Elman
  • Hajer Sharief
  • Mimoun Berrissoun
  • Arizza Nocum
  • Jonah Obajeun
  • Bjørn Ihler