VOX-Pol was represented by our Coordinator, Dr. Maura Conway (DCU), at Club De Madrid’s global policy dialogue ‘Madrid +10: Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism‘, which took place in Madrid, Spain, from 27 – 28 October, 2015.
VOX-Pol partner, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) at King’s College London, was co-convenor of the event, which was officially launched by H.M. the King of Spain Felipe VI and the final speaker at which was the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.
The World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid was established in 2004 and is composed of democratic former presidents and prime ministers from around the world. The Madrid+10 initiative aimed to inform and empower stakeholders, including policymakers, civil society, and others, in the struggle against radicalisation and violent extremism and discuss the actions that governments and society can undertake to effectively tackle these, while respecting democracy and the rule of law.
In addition to a number of plenary sessions, the event was composed of a number of workshops focused on specific aspects of the above: the role of women, the role of educators and youth, building peace through inter-religious dialogue, and online radicalisation.
Dr. Conway contributed to the online radicalisation workshop where she appeared on a panel dedicated to online counter speech with co-panelists Nick Kaderbhai (ICSR), Abdulaziz Alhamza (co-founder, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently), Shahmahmood Miakhel and Eliza Urwin (United Sates Institute for Peace, Afghanistan), and Club De Madrid member Ricardo Lagos (former President of Chile).
The outcome of Madrid +10 was a #GlobalConsensus document that is available for download and signature HERE.