Hope Mid-Term International Conference in Bulgaria
After meeting in Norway on March 31 and April 1, 2022, the partners of the HOPE project (A holistic initiative to prevent and counter radicalization in the Balkans, Southern and Eastern Europe) meet again in Sofia, Bulgaria. This international conference taking place on April 7-8, 2022 at the General Directorate in the Bulgarian capital aims to disseminate the project’s products, goals, and objectives, as well as to engage relevant international stakeholders’ (prison/probation staff, community organisations’ staff, policy/decision makers, academics/researchers, local/regional/governmental actors) in other project events. The participants have visited Sofia Central Prison.
The following topics were discussed on the first day of the meeting:
- The HOPE project approach A holistic initiative to prevent and counter radicalisation in the Balkan, Southern and Eastern Europe
- Regional solutions for regional challenges: A historical perspective on preventing radicalisation and extremism in Southern and Eastern Europe
- A country-by-country or regional approach to Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism? Main challenges, structural needs and lessons learned
- Do not focus on VETOs only: Identification of vulnerable individuals to radicalisation and extremism in prison
- The importance of alternative detention measures: The role of probation officers and community practitioners on working with extremist offenders outside prison
- Rehabilitating Foreign Terrorist Fighters: An overview of UNODC’s FTF Detention Programme’s experience
This project, in which the Euro-Arab Foundation participates, is developing a network for continuous training and the exchange of knowledge on the prevention of radicalization in the Balkans and countries of southern and eastern Europe. If you want to know more, watch the presentation video of the project:
