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Tribune News Network
Doha
SILATECH, a leading international social development organisation, took part in the activities of the State of Qatar during the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.
Silatech co-organised with the State of Qatar and the Center for International Cooperation a side-event titled 'Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and the SDG Agenda'.
The session was moderated by Sarah Cliffe, director of The Center on International Cooperation, and keynote speakers were Dr Mutlaq al Qahtani, Special Envoy of the Minister of the State of Qatar for Counterterrorism, Dispute of Settlements and Mediation, and Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The interactive panel included Eric Rosand, Director of the Prevention Project: Organizing against Violent Extremism; Irene Khan, Director-General, International Development Law Organization (DLO); Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Youth Envoy; Sabah al Haidoos, Chief Executive Officer of Silatech; Haras Rafiq, Chief Executive Officer of Quilliam Foundation International; Prof. Sanam Anderlini, Co-founder and Executive Director of ICAN; Dr Reem al Ansari, PVE Expert, Professor of Law at Qatar University; Lolwah Alkhater, lecturer at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Furthermore, Silatech's CEO Haidoos presented a working paper on Silatech as a pioneering innovative model in addressing the youth unemployment challenge, violent extremism and the creation of jobs for peace and prosperity. The presentation also showcased Silatech's model in conflict, post-conflict and fragile areas, and the utilisation of policy and research, technology, and innovation to reduce the cost of jobs on employers and enhance employability, as well as enterprise development programmes which created job opportunities for more youth.
Silatech also signed MoU with Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force Office/ United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (CTITF-UNCCT).
The main aim was to counter extremism through youth empowerment and employability initiatives in an effort to contribute towards the implementation of the United Nations' Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
The signing ceremony took place at the United Nations headquarters Secretariat building in New York. The MoU was signed by Haidoos, Dr Qahtani, and Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office.
Commenting on the event, Haidoos said:"This collaboration reflects the efforts of Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Silatech and CTITF-UNCCT to root out terrorism and to protect young people from drifting towards extremist ideologies by providing them with jobs and decent livelihood opportunities. This collaboration will enable us to expand our work aimed at reducing unemployment and poverty. It will help us implement more of our skills development, employment and microfinance programmes that have proven successful in economically empowering young people and young women economically, and engaging them in achieving economic and social stability for themselves and their communities."
