Community-Based Approach to Support Youth in a Targeted Municipality in North Macedonia

Radicalization and violent extremism has been a concerning issue in the recent years, affecting the region.

The objective of the proposed project is to contribute to preventing the spread of violent extremism through capacitating the institutional stakeholders to directly engage with local communities and build their resilience against extremist influences and ongoing recruitment.

The following activities will be implemented using an institutional oriented approach: 1) community self-assessment of violent extremism and its drivers; 2) integrative complexity thinking workshops for youth-at-risk; and 3) organize institutional workshops for community teachers, school psychologists and social workers to build their capacity to recognize and address early signs of radicalization. The trained institutional stakeholders will further organize preventive and educational activities for the community members assessed as at-risk groups from the perspective of violent extremism.

The project will work closely with critical stakeholders including the targeted communities, the Ministry of Interior, Agency of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Labour and Social Work, Ministry of Education and Science, NGOs, parents’ networks and other community-based partners and local government institutions.