Participants during the forum in Bangkok, Thailand.
Doha: The Doha-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) took part in the Regional Youth Forum on Preventing Violent Extremism through Sport held recently in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Regional Youth Forum was jointly organised by the United Nations Global Programme on Security of Major Sporting Events and Promotion of Sport and its Values as a Tool to Prevent Violent Extremism (“Global Sports Programme), led by UNOCT and its partners, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), and the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), as well as the Asean Secretariat, through the endorsement of the Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Sports (SOMS).
The Forum, which was held at the Conference Centre of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), brought together youth leaders from Asean Member States, athletes, senior experts on youth, education and sports and representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs), the Royal Thai Police and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
In his opening remarks, Valerio de Divitiis, Programme Coordinator for the UNOCT Global Sports Programme underlined the significance of the Asean-UN Regional Youth Forum on Preventing Violent Extremism through Sport. He highlighted that young people from across the Asean region help achieve peace and security objectives, using sport and its values to build resilience to violent extremism.
In his opening statement, Hernan Longo, UNOCT Regional Programme Coordinator for South-East Asia, contextualized the event as part of UNOCT’s and the wider UN system’s initiatives to engage and empower youth in PCVE efforts.
Addressing the Opening Session on behalf of the Asean Secretariat, Dr. Roger Yap Chao Jr, Assistant Director and Head of Education, Youth and Sports Division, highlighted the recently adopted Asean Declaration on Leveraging the Role of Sports in Asean Community-Building and Achieving the SDGs. He further emphasized the critical role of youth with the support of government stakeholders in using sports in the region as a platform to promote peace, in line with Asean’s initiatives on preventing and countering the rise of radicalization and violent extremism.
Massimiliano Montanari, CEO of ICSS, said: “This Youth Forum provides a precious opportunity to align fresh ideas of youth leaders with the inspirational role of experienced policy and decision-makers on how to utilise sport to prevent violent extremism and to optimise the opportunities offered by major sporting events to integrate community at risks.
“Youth leaders play a fundamental role in enhancing national and international policies, particularly when they are related to a topic which is essential for their life like sport.”
Sophia Valencia, a youth participant from the Philippines, expressed her enthusiasm about being a part of a pivotal movement that could legitimately bring about change in the current society. She also highlighted the consensus reached by the day 1 forum, where youth leaders and athletes agreed that PVE policy recommendations must have key points on representation, accessibility, inclusivity, and positive values. Valencia expressed her confidence on the youth participants ability to present feasible, groundbreaking, and progressive policy recommendations.
