Countering terrorism: In search of a Grand African Strategy

Abstract

The Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies (IDIS) at the University of Nairobi, in partnership with the Africa Policy Institute (API) will hold a one day symposium on “Countering terrorism: In search of a Grand African Strategy” at University of Nairobi, on May 7, 2015.

This Symposium seeks to landscape the state of knowledge, strategies and policy responses to terrorism and violent extremism. The Symposium is planned against the background of the brutal upsurge of terrorism globally in 2015, which started with the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris on January 7, 2015. It also comes hot on the heels of the massacre of 148 students at the Garissa University College in Northern Kenya in early April 2015. The new wave of terrorism has sharply turned the spotlight on the need to review the existing strategies, response mechanisms and the role of various actors at the community, national, regional and international levels in countering violent extremism.

The event targets participants from all sectors involved in counter-terrorism: including senior government officials; members of the Diplomatic Corps, African regional organizations; UN and other international agencies, scholars, civil society, think-tanks and the media.

The overarching objective of the project is to identify and critically examine the existing strategies for combating terrorism; their efficacy and areas that require improvement; as well as the governance environments that may influence the terrorist trends in Africa.

It is hoped that the debates and perspectives that emerge from this Symposium will crystallize into an integrated grand strategy proposal that can assist policy makers and other stakeholders in countering terrorism, nationally regionally and globally.