By Mohamed Abdi - Reporter
SOMALIA (Dawan) — Mogadishu on Wednesday hosted a Regional Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism and Experience Sharing, bringing together government officials, security experts and representatives from countries across the Horn of Africa.
The conference was organized by Somalia’s National Tubsan Center for the Prevention and Countering of Violent Extremism in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
The meeting focused on strengthening regional cooperation to prevent violent extremism, improving early warning and rapid response systems, and enhancing information-sharing mechanisms between security institutions and local communities.
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Participants included representatives from Somalia’s Federal Government as well as officials from counterterrorism and prevention-of-violent-extremism institutions, civil society organizations, youth and women’s groups, researchers and delegations from Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.
Discussions covered Somalia’s experience in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism, Kenya’s early warning systems, regional cooperation frameworks and lessons learned from existing security initiatives across the Horn of Africa.
Participants also took part in panel discussions on strengthening cross-border cooperation and developing a future roadmap aimed at improving security coordination among countries in the region.
Organizers said the conference aims to produce practical recommendations to enhance coordination between regional institutions, strengthen efforts to prevent violent extremism and improve responses to emerging security threats.
The meeting comes as countries across the Horn of Africa continue to face security challenges linked to extremist groups, prompting renewed efforts to strengthen cooperation, information-sharing and community-based prevention strategies.