UNDP says Jordan first in region to launch counter-extremism project

AMMAN — Jordan will be the first country in the region to implement a comprehensive project to counter extremism, a senior UN official has said.

The project, supported by UNDP and Japan, will include the development of a strategy as well as the institutional capacity to prevent extremism, according to the UN agency’s country representative, Zeina Ali Ahmad.

Ahmad said a memorandum of understanding had already been signed with the Counter Extremism Department, which was previously affiliated with the Interior Ministry but is now under the umbrella of the Ministry of Culture. 

UNDP will provide the expertise for the project, titled “Preventing Violent Extremism”, according to Ahmad, who noted that in terms of security, Jordan is distinguished in countering extremism. The strategy will focus on combating the phenomenon socially and economically.

“The strategy will be completed by end of this year,” Ahmad said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times.

The UN agency will sign an agreement with the Ministry for Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to develop religious discourse to highlight the true image of Islam, she added. 

The ministry will develop a curriculum and train preachers across the country, said Ahmad, adding that the project would launch in Zarqa.  

UNDP will support the programme but will not interfere in the curriculum, she stressed. 

Meanwhile, UNDP will support the development of an online platform through which anyone can ask the Ifta Department questions anonymously, Ahmad said. 

“We will not interfere with the content. We will only fund developing the platform,” she added. 

A media campaign will be developed to counter extremism, and community based organisations (CBOs) will also play a key role, the UNDP official said.  

“Thirty-seven CBOs were awarded grants to implement programmes in this regard, and we started training them,” Ahmad explained, adding that more CBOs would be involved soon.

Youths will be targeted, she said, noting that indicators suggested extremism was connected to unemployment and the feeling of being marginalised. 

 “To start with, we want to empower the youth economically to become change agents,” she said. 

UNDP will sign a memorandum of agreement with the Ministry of Youth to develop a curriculum and conduct training in eight youth centres as a pilot project. 

Participants will be trained on how to attract their peers to the centre’s social and cultural activities, Ahmad said. 

“If the pilot project succeeds, we will implement it in other youth centres in the Kingdom,” the UN official said, adding that there are 183 youth centres in Jordan.

The agency is also implementing a community mobilisation emergency employment project in 12 municipalities in Zarqa and Irbid, in which young people are employed at the minimum wage for three months. 

At the conclusion of the project, a study will be conducted on its impact and the reasons for extremism in Jordan, Ahmad said.