UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF COUNTER-TERRORISM convenes regional event to strengthen crisis and strategic communications in South-East Asia

Bangkok – A 4-day Regional Workshop on Crisis and Strategic Communications for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) in South-East Asia concluded in Bangkok, Thailand. Organized by the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism through the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Center (UNOCT/UNCCT), in partnership with the European Union and with support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the workshop aimed to equip participants with the tools to prepare for and communicate around terrorist attacks and other major crises.

More than 40 Government officials from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, alongside members of civil society and journalists attended the event and developed a regional  communications approach to tackle mis- and dis-information and build effective crisis communication protocols that help mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks and promote resilience to violent extremism..

Mr. Raffi Gregorian, Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism and Director at UNOCT delivered opening remarks on behalf of UNOCT. Expressing concern over the continued threat posed by terrorism and the increased spread of violent extremist narratives across South-East Asia, he said: “Strategic communication remains a key component to responding to these growing threats by highlighting common values, reducing fear, and fostering a sense of community.”  He also thanked the European Union, UNDP, and the respective Member State focal points for their support in delivering the workshop and reiterated UNOCT’s commitment to invest in innovative, evidence-based practices to counter terrorist narratives.

Echoing the value of cooperation with the United Nations in the region, Mr. Paolo Zingale, Head of Foreign Policy Instruments for Asia/Pacific, at the European Union, said “This workshop is a great opportunity for participants to learn more about the different phases in crisis communication, to prevent and counter violent extremism. It is also an occasion to learn from each other, exchange good practices, build relationships and links through a community of practice to enhance cooperation at regional level.”

Experts, journalists and other Member State representatives shared their own experiences of terror attacks to provide lessons and best practice for crisis communication responses. UNDP presented their work under the Digital Ecosystem Mapping of Southeast Asia and highlighted the new season of their ‘Extreme Lives’ series.

The regional workshop follows a series of successful national workshops on Crisis Communication held by UNOCT/UNCCT’s Global Programme on PCVE in the Philippines (August 2022), Malaysia (December 2022), Thailand (February 2023), and Indonesia (February 2023). The four national workshops provided targeted capacity-building support to the beneficiaries on the basis of UNOCT’s Crisis Communications Toolkit, which includes theoretical crisis communication approaches, evidence-based principles, practical templates and tools that can be adapted and quickly activated to help countries prepare, respond and recover from crises brought about by terrorist incidents. The project has trained over 170 government officials, civil society organisations, ministries/agencies and the media.