LAB 10 - Leaders countering extremism

19 November 2015 - 14.00-15.30 - Room 9, Palais de l'Europe, Interpretation: FR/EN/RU - Sponsored by the Club of Madrid

The lab will address challenges of confronting radicalization and violent extremism through firsthand experience of two Heads of State who worked on preventing or combating violent extremism in their countries and the necessary policies and tools needed to prevent and counter this growing phenomenon in today’s society

Initiative 1

Madrid +10, Club of Madrid

Ten years ago, the Club of Madrid (CdM) convened a unique conference, Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, bringing together world leaders and experts to analyse the causes of terrorism and to find better, more sustainable ways to confront these challenges from a democratic perspective. It resulted in the Madrid Agenda which had a profound impact on the global debate on terrorism and violent extremism. As a response to the current growing threat of radicalization and violent extremism, CdM, in partnership with the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) is organizing “Madrid+10: The Global Policy Dialogue on Countering Violent Extremism” a 3-phase initiative that will bring together world leaders, opinion formers and experts from different backgrounds and parts of the world in an action-oriented discussion aimed at exchanging good practices on the local and national level, and creating a space for dialogue and further exchange through an on-line platform.

http://www.clubmadrid.org/

Presenter(s)

Mr Andrés PASTRANA, Colombia, President of Colombia (1998-2002)

In 1988, Mr. Pastrana was elected the first Popular Mayor of Bogotá, after surviving a kidnapping attempt ordered by the Cartel of Medellín. His administration succeeded in lowering crime rates in the capital, combating drug addiction, privatizing sanitary services, supplying drinking water to the poorest sectors of society, improving transportation and promoting education. Mr. Pastrana founded the New Democratic Force movement, and succeeded in winning a seat in the Colombian Senate. He served in the Senate until 1993. In 1998, he was elected President of Colombia. After his presidential tenure, he served from as the Colombia Ambassador to the U.S.

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Discussants

Discussants are invited to take part in the Labs in order to share their experience with the presented democratic initiatives and try to bring broader perspectives to the following discussions.

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Mr Fouad AHIDAR, Belgium, 1st Vice-President of the Brussels Parliament

Fouad Ahidar is the 1st Vice-President of the Brussels parliament and member of the Flemish Socialist Party Belgian SP.a for the Brussels-Capital Region. Engaged in the field of discrimination, he is a member of the Commission on equal opportunities between men and women, the Committee on Home Affairs, the Committee on European Affairs and the Housing Committee in the Parliament of Brussels. Active for more than 20 years in Belgian politics, Fouad Ahidar also specializes on the issue of immigration in Belgium and on the rights of aliens.

Moderator

Lord John ALDERDICE, United Kingdom, Member of the House of Lords

John, Lord Alderdice was a consultant psychiatrist in Belfast and an academic with appointments in Belfast the USA, and currently, the University of Oxford where he is Director of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict at Harris Manchester College. He was from 1989 to 1998 the Leader of the Alliance Party and a negotiator of the 1998 Belfast Agreement; then Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly; one of the four international commissioners on terrorism and security in Ireland until 2011. He was also President of Liberal International, (the world-wide federation of liberal political parties) from 2005 to 2009; and from 2010 to 2014 Convenor (Chairman) of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in the House of Lords.

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Cartoonist

Ms Nelly MASSERA