Workshop on Countering Violent Extremism: Building Resilience & Capacity.

Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) under the auspices of its specialised centre — Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research (BCTR), organised a three day National Workshop titled “Countering Violent Extremism (CVE): Building Resilience and Capacity”, from the 28th to 30th of March 2017. The workshop incorporated participants from multiple stakeholders, including first responders, law enforcement & security agencies, paramilitary forces, media personnel, civil society associates, youth representatives and so on. The event is part of a series of capacity and awareness building interventions that BIPSS and BCTR will be undertaking over a multi-year period, supported by the Government of Canada.

The conference began with the President of BIPSS, Major General ANM Muniruzzaman (retd.) highlighting the need for comprehensive awareness of CVE here in Bangladesh. The first presentation for Day 1 was delivered by Shafqat Munir, Research Fellow, BIPSS & BCTR, on “CVE: A Primer”. The following presentation was made by Chiran Jung Thapa, an independent Security and Defense Analyst on “Violent Extremism: Understanding the Threat Landscape.”

Day 2 consisted of a thought-invoking presentation by Syed Zain Al Mahmood, who covers Bangladesh and other South Asian regional news for The Wall Street Journal, on “The Role of Media in CVE” and another on “Cyber Radicalisation” by Sameer Patil, Fellow, National Security Studies & Director, Centre for International Security, Gateway House.

All presentations featured engaging Q/A sessions. For Day 3, a tabletop exercise kicked off the morning, that created an interactive discussion on the various aspects of #CVE from a nuanced participatory demographic, ranging from groups discussing Media to Cyber.

The event concluded with a certificate awarding ceremony, where the participants were honoured for their involvement by H.E. Benoit-Pierre Laramee, High Commissioner of Canada in Bangladesh, who graced the event as the Chief Guest with Professor Abu Zayed Mohammad, Research Fellow at BIPSS, giving the vote of thanks.