Iraq Foundation - Aidstream

Iraq Foundation

1420 N St., N.W., STE 102 Washington, DC 20005 Tel.: 202-347-4662 Fax: 202-347-7897 Web: http://www.iraqfoundation.org

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Building Resilience of Youth and Communities

Against Violent Extremism and Radicalization Project

(BRYC)

Grant/Project Number (4000004694)

Funded by Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Kingdom of the Netherlands

Third Quarterly Report (Q3)

For the period of December 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021

April 2021

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Table of Contents

Background: ................................................................................................................................................. 3

Summary of results achieved: ........................................................................................................................ 3

Activities - December 2020 ............................................................................................................................. 4 Activity 3a ................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Results – December 2020 ............................................................................................................................... 4

Obstacles and challenges ............................................................................................................................... 5

Supplemental Activities: PVE Seminar – December 3, 2020 ............................................................................ 5

Activities - January 2021 ................................................................................................................................ 6 Activity 3a ................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Activity 3b ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 January 27-28, 2021 ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Summary of Activity 3b – Site Visits ............................................................................................................... 8 Salah al-Din Governorate - Tikrit District .................................................................................................................. 8 Anbar Province - Fallujah District ............................................................................................................................. 9

Success Stories ............................................................................................................................................. 10

January results ............................................................................................................................................. 11 Obstacles and challenges ....................................................................................................................................... 12

Activities – February 2021 ............................................................................................................................ 12

Results – February 2021 ............................................................................................................................... 12

Results Framework: ..................................................................................................................................... 13

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Background: Iraq Foundation implements the BRYC project in seven locations in four provinces, the provinces of Salah al-Din (Tikrit and Al-Dur), Anbar (Fallujah and Ramadi), Mosul (Hamdania and West Mosul) and Baghdad (Zafaraniyah) with the support of the Dutch government and in cooperation with local partner organizations.

The project aims to strengthen the resilience of youth and communities against violent extremism in areas liberated from ISIS by strengthening young people's prevention of conflict and actual or potential violent extremism and enabling them to confront violence and promote civil peace through mediation and negotiation, playing the role of mentoring school students, advocating for the activation of programs and activities to prevent violent extremism and extremist ideology, spreading concepts and practices of moderation, tolerance, diversity, acceptance of others, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and advocacy for the role of teachers, school and university students in combating extremism and promoting peace.

During this reporting period, local authorities, community leaders, and professionals pledged to support the project and participate in the project's activities, including the training of the eight leaders carried out in each of the seven locations of the project. To ensure that training participants acquire the awareness and skills required to provide support and assistance to young people and affected groups in their communities, Iraq Foundation has made great efforts in selecting specialized trainers, subjects, and training curricula to ensure that participants have the required capacity to help their communities prevent violent extremism. Iraq Foundation and its partners have selected teachers who will work toward preventing violent extremism in the classroom. By promoting critical thinking among students and teaching the concepts of moderation and tolerance, they prove to be invaluable to the success of the project, and even provide escalation referrals when needed. Summary of results achieved:

1. Activity 1: Completed during Q1. 2. Activity 2: Completed during Q2. 3. Activity 3a: Ongoing: Training materials and training agenda have been developed and finalized. Project

staff aim to complete this activity by May 31, 2021 in all seven locations. 4. Activity 3b: Completed during the current reporting period.

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Activities - December 2020 Activity 3a

1. Received a letter directed from Karrada District to Baghdad Province to issue a cooperation letter for school administrations in the city of Zafaraniyah on December 16, 2020

2. Drafted a memorandum of understanding between IF and the National Security Advisor’s Office. On December 23, 2020, IF staff met with Mr. Ahmed Tamimi, the assistant to Mr. Saeed al-Jayashi of the National Security Advisor’s Office.

3. IF held a consultative and awareness meeting with the Assistant Director of the Hamdania Education Directorate and a group of activists in Mosul on December 28, 2020.

4. IF held a consultative and awareness meeting between women leaders, educators, and the Director of the Department of Women’s Empowerment in Nineveh Province on December 29, 2020 in West Mosul.

5. IF held a consultative and awareness meeting with members of the Youth Community Leaders Team in Fallujah on December 25, 2020.

6. IF held a consultative and awareness meeting with government officials and teachers in Ramadi on December 27, 2020.

7. IF held a consultative and awareness meeting with government officials and teachers in Fallujah on December 28, 2020.

8. IF coordinated an online consultation meeting with two teachers via Zoom on December 28, 2020.

Results – December 2020

1. As a result of the activities carried out during this month and in tandem with previous activities in all seven locations, local authorities, community leaders, and professionals became fully aware of the project and its objectives and showed interest in supporting the BRYC project and participated in its activities.

2. IF worked with the Iraqi National Security Representative to select trainers and PVE specialists who will train community leaders in seven locations. IF held a virtual training via Zoom on December 21, 2020 the purpose of the meeting was to ensure that the trainers were equipped to provide support and assistance to young people and affected groups in their communities. The training also focused on selecting, revising, and modifying the training curricula on preventing violent extremism.

3. Commissioning a training manual that covers the topics of identifying the driving factors of extremism, identifying signs of violent extremism, skills and concepts of peaceful conflict resolution, tolerance, moderation, community communication strategies and techniques. This manual will be adopted as a training tool to be used in all target provinces and for various exercises.

4. Utilizing WhatsApp group as a means of communication to discuss ideas for proposals for the amendments of the training curriculum (manual) to ensure the participation of all trainers. The group scheduled a week to discuss the proposed amendments, after the curriculum is approved.

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5. Preparing a schedule for the distribution of the training tasks referred to above, including the location and date of the activity for each trainer.

6. During this month, IF focused on establishing an effective network between stakeholders from the executive section in the targeted locations and local community leaders. An integrated plan has been developed that aims to provide them with the skills to communicate with their local communities to provide them with the skills to prevent violent extremism and to assist vulnerable youth through education, referrals, and intervention to solve problems related to violent extremism. IF and its partners have made great efforts in selecting the eight leaders from each location as well as selecting and nominating teachers in secondary schools who will undergo training to be an effective tool in the prevention of violent extremism in the classroom to promote critical thinking among students on the concepts of moderation and tolerance.

Obstacles and challenges

1. Challenges to meeting stakeholders in all targeted locations due to health precautions as a result of COVID-19 and the lack of staff and local officials in their departments.

2. In order to secure teacher participation in IF activities, IF must work with the school administration and Ministry of Education for approval. This added bureaucracy leads to unnecessary blockages that slow down activity implementation and forces IF staff to nurture and maintain relationships with government officials who can assist in bypassing these controls.

Supplemental Activities: PVE Seminar – December 3, 2020 In November 2020, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs approached IF to facilitate a seminar on the subject of PVE to focus on lessons learned in Iraq and ways forward. Considering IF’s expertise and management of the BRYC project since June 2020 and the successes of its predecessor, WAVE, IF agreed to conduct this seminar as a supplement to its BRYC activities on PVE.

On Thursday, December 3, 2020 IF hosted a seminar in collaboration with the Iraqi Office of the National Security Advisor (ONSA), the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The seminar was titled “6 Years Onward: How to Prevent History from Repeating Itself? The role of civil society and the media in protecting against violent extremism”. In light of the Iraqi government’s 2019 adoption of a National Strategy to Counter and Prevent Violent Extremism, the goal of this virtual seminar was to inform the public about the strategy, receive feedback, share views, and exchange experiences and lessons learned from countries, cities, and neighbourhoods around the world. This seminar aimed to spotlight the indispensable role that civil society actors and communities can play in addressing radicalisation and extremism, and to examine the role of media platforms and the blessings and curses of social media. The first panel focused on forging partnerships between government agencies and civil society in preventing and countering violent extremism and was moderated by IF President Ms. Rend Al-Rahim. The second panel discussed the risks and opportunities offered by the media in preventing and countering violent extremism and was moderated by Mr. John van der Zande, Regional CT and P/CVE Coordinator for the Netherlands, based in Amman. The 65 participants in the seminar included Iraqi officials from ONSA and other Iraqi government agencies (including the KRG),

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members of the diplomatic community, international practitioners in the field of PVE and CVE, and Iraqi, regional, and international CSOs.

Conclusions

Participants agreed that this initial seminar laid the foundations for producture future talks. The organizers agreed to facilitate bilateral contacts between attendees and to explore opportunities for a follow-up symposium in 2021.

Activities - January 2021 Activity 3a

1. IF carried out several community meetings and activities in late January, including training for the eight leaders in the seven locations of four provinces.

2. IF held a meeting on January 1, 2021 in Baghdad with individuals from the National Security Representative’s Office: Mr. Ahmed Tamimi, Mr. Saeed al-Jayashi, Ms. Muntaha Yarallah and Mr. Ali Nasser, the Director General of the Al-Nahrain Center where they prepared a memorandum of understanding between IF and the National Security Representative and agreed on selecting trainers and preparing training materials for teachers and professionals.

3. On January 20, 2021, IF met with Mr. Ali Nasser of the Al-Nahrain Center at the Center’s headquarter’s in Baghdad to introduce the BRYC project, meet with trainers, and train teachers and professionals in preparation for the Al-Nahrain Center to provide support and facilities for the 2-day cascade training.

4. On January 28, 2021, IF met with Mr. Ali Nasser of the Al-Nahrain Center at the Center’s headquarter’s in Baghdad along with Dr. Ali Fares Hamid, Dr. Ali al-Mamouri, and Dr. Suhad Ismail Khalil to agree to a training curriculum for teachers and professionals.

5. On January 7, 2021, IF met with partner organizations to discuss technical and administrative preparations for the training in Nineveh. During this meeting, IF and partner organizations prepared an integrated plan for the eight leaders from Hamdania and West Mosul.

Activity 3b January 27-28, 2021

Activity 3b is a two-day training for community leaders with (8 people per site) with the goal of building the capacities of professionals and leaders to identify instances and markers of violent extremism. The project staff identified 3-4 women leaders from each location from the WAVE project to act as mentors for new trainees. The training focuses on building an understanding of peaceful conflict resolution, tolerance, moderation, strategies for community outreach, and communication techniques.

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Baghdad/Zafaraniyah:

Salah al- Din:

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Nineveh:

Summary of Activity 3b – Site Visits IF Country Director Ms. Dhefaf Al-Jarahi together with IF Project Manager Mr. Amjad Kadhim

visited the following sites where the trainings were held:

Salah al-Din Governorate - Tikrit District On January 21, 2021, IF team, oversaw a training workshop held at Al-Finjan Restaurant Hall in Tikrit. They took a tour of the training facility and got to know the eight leaders. The workshop was managed by Dr. Waad Ibrahim Khalil with the help of Mr. Ahmed Jassam, head of the Al-Nour University Foundation and the organization's staff. Ms. Al-Jarahi took the opportunity to introduce herself and Mr. Kadhim at the coffee break and met the trainees. She had a fruitful discussion about the training thus far. Ms. Al-Jarahi reaffirmed that the participants will help in the advancement, assistance, confrontation, and steadfastness against violent and extremist thought, and the trainees expressed their optimism and their full readiness to make all efforts to contribute to saving society, especially after they were freed from ISIS control. They communicated the urgent need for this project because of its

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important mission. She mentioned that the most important part of this training is the referral that the trainer will address, and she instructed them to focus on it whether by the trainers or trainees.

Anbar Province - Fallujah District

On Saturday, January 23, 2021, IF team oversaw the training workshop held at al-Masar Training and Development Company Hall at 10:00 AM. The workshop was led by Dr. Moataz al-Subaihi with the help of Mr. Falah al-Alussi, Director of the Peace of Al-Rafidain Organization. As she did in Tikrit, Ms. Al-Jarahi introduced herself at the coffee break and reaffirmed the important role this training would play in the prevention and action against violent extremism. She also stressed the importance of the referral system. Below is a table detailing the training workshops and dates for the seven sites:

# Location (Province - Judiciary)

Training dates 2021

Number of male trainees

Number of female trainees

Total trainees

1 Salah al-Din - Tikrit January 20-21 5 3 8 2 Salah al-Din - Al-Dur January 22-23 4 4 8 3 Anbar- Ramadi January 20-21 5 2 7 4 Anbar - Fallujah January 22-23 2 5 7 5 Nineveh - Hamdania January 27-28 4 4 8 6 Nineveh - West Mosul January 29-30 4 4 8 7 Baghdad - Zafaraniyah January 27-28 7 2 9

Total trainees 55 (31 men + 24 women)

The training teams and locations:

# Trainer name and profile Sites where they were trained (province/judiciary)

Training date Preparing trainees

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Dr. Mahmoud Azzo Hamdo Ph.D. in Political Science, Mosul University Faculty of Political Science, Public Policy

1. Salah al-Din /Tikrit 2. Salah al-Din /Al-Dur 3. Nineveh/Hamdania 4. Nineveh/West Mosul

January 20, 2021 January 22, 2021 January 27, 2021 January 29, 2021

8 8 8 8

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Dr. Waad Ibrahim Khalil Ph.D. in Sociology & Criminology, Assistant Professor at Mosul University founding member of the Peacebuilding Program in the Department of Sociology at Mosul University Member of a Mosul University initiative to rehabilitate ISIS families

1. Salah al-Din / Tikrit 2. Salah al-Din / Al-Dur 3. Nineveh / Hamdania 4. Nineveh / West Mosul

January 21, 2021 January 23, 2021 January 28, 2021 January 30, 2021

8 8 8 8

Dr. Jassim Al-Seder 1. Anbar / Ramadi

January 20, 2021

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Success Stories

1. During a training, one trainee shared that she did not see the advantage of these trainings unless they provided stipends for participants. This trainee has experience working with Zafaraniyah Youth Center, is affiliated with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and is also a civil activist with more than 13 years of experience in the field of preventing violent extremism. She has helped more than 400 families, including orphans and widows. In response to her comment, Ms. Al-Jarahi took the opportunity to explain to the trainee the significant impact of a project such as BRYC in preventing and responding to violent extremism. Ms. Al-Jarahi explained how the success of the previous project (WAVE) depended on the dedication of volunteership and the participants’ belief in the work and the project. This resulted in 56 leading women who were trained to become leaders against violent extremism in their communities. The trainee showed a significant change in her views on the training, especially during day 2 of the training. She became more participatory and admitted to Ms. Al-Jarahi that their conversation softened her perspective on their work and potential impact. The change that IF effectuated in the trainee is very much representative of its status in various communities throughout Iraq and is a demonstration of the kind of transformation that IF aims to inspire through the BRYC project.

2. Muhamad is a community leader in the Fallujah area. During the training he complained about the presentation of the trainer, Dr. Moataz Al-Subaihi (who himself was displaced after ISIS entered Fallujah). Muhamad interrupted Dr. Al-Subaihi, claiming that he was exaggerating about the level of extremism in Fallujah, and that he had never met or experienced anyone affected by extremism. Muhamad was asked several times by other trainees to stop interrupting and to allow Dr. Al-Subaihi to finish his presentation.

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Ph.D. in Philosophy in Islamic Sciences Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at Baghdad University Rapporteur of the Council for Improving the Quality of Education for Islamic Sciences

2. Anbar / Fallujah 3. Baghdad / Zafaraniyah

January 22, 2021 January 27, 2021

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Dr. Moataz Ismail Khalaf al-Subaihi Ph.D. in Political Systems and Public Policy, Teaching at Anbar University in the Faculty of Law and Political Science, and a researcher specializing in Iraqi affairs and terrorist organizations in Iraq at the Center for Strategic Studies / Head of Crisis Management

1. Anbar / Ramadi 2. Anbar / Fallujah 3. Baghdad / Zafaraniyah

January 21, 2021 January 23, 2021 January 28, 2021

7 7 9

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Ms. Al-Jarahi intervened and asked Muhamad several questions with the goal of inspiring some introspection into the discussion: Why are we here today? If Fallujah, according to your point of view, is devoid of extremism, why are we working in it now? Why you want to be part of the project? Existence of extremism does not mean disparaging the city. Extremism is not only what has been practiced by ISIS, extremism can be a way of thinking that will lead to violence. To avoid the tragedy of 2014 from reoccurring, we should resort to dialogue and strengthening of community peace instead of tension and conflict. There was a shift in Muhammad’s thinking. He apologized to the trainer, after which Ms. Al Jarahi suggested that Mohamad can lead the afternoon session in which the participants were divided into two groups. He talked about his experience as a member of an NGO. Much like the earlier success, the IF considers this transformation as a success because the team of trainers and IF staff did not dismissively escort out the participant but rather worked to turn an otherwise hostile or negative experience into one where another community leader sees the critical importance in preventing violent extremism.

January results

1. On Monday, January 18, 2021 at 11 AM, Ms. Al-Jarahi and Mr. Kadhim met with Mr. Ahmad Al-Tamimi, Mr. Saeed Al-Jayashi, the National Security Representative. Mr. Ali, the National Security Representative, and Mrs. Muntaha Al-Jarallah, Director of Administration for Al-Nahrain Center. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the trainers and the training material for Activity 3a. Mrs. Muntaha will set a date to meet with Mr. Ali Bunyan, director of the Nahrain Center, to agree on the training material and trainers, and the subject of the memorandum of understanding between Iraq Foundation and the National Security Representative, Ahmed Al-Tamimi will send a previous draft to them that includes an old memorandum of understanding to use in the numbers of the memorandum to include the priorities of Iraq Foundation and the representation will transfer it to its own legal representative for its numbers in the final form for the purpose of prevention and there will be a paragraph that guarantees flexibility Implementation in the event of any change that occurs and what serves Iraq Foundation and stressed that in the case of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding, we will seize a lot of procedures that were hindering the mission facilitation books within the concerned ministries, for example, the Ministry of Education, so that it would be easier and faster to implement.

2. Achieving the meeting on Thursday, January 2, 2021, at the Center of Al-Nahrain at 12:00 p.m., Mr. Ali Nasser Benyan, Director General of al-Nahrain Center, met with Dr. Ali Fares Hamid, Dr. Ali Al-Mamouri and Dr. Sahad. Ismail Khalil, Ms. Al Jarahi, and Mr. Kadhim, Project Manager of BRYC Iraq Foundation, agreed to prepare a training curriculum for teachers and professionals, who will be trained for 6 days by Dr. Ali Fares, Dr. Suhad Ismail and assist Iraq Foundation in selecting specialized trainers for this training.

3. The completion of the training workshops for seven sites in the four provinces and the data of 55 leaders with 31 men leaders and 24 women leaders able to hold awareness sessions in the community especially in building the capacity of the community to withstand and address violent thought and extremist thought and identify cases and refer them according to the referral program for the purpose of treatment, rehabilitation, and integration into society.

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Obstacles and challenges

• Some of the candidates for training among the eight leaders of the attendees could not attend due to emergencies in Fallujah and Ramadi, which reduced the required number of attendees.

Activities – February 2021

On February 14, 2021, IF circulated the letter of cooperation and facilitation of a task issued by the Ministry of Education, the Minister's Office to Education Directorates for Cooperation and facilitating the task of Iraq Foundation in four provinces and its urgent need for the cooperation of school administrations in accordance with the requirements of the project.

Results – February 2021

1. Receiving a letter issued by the Ministry of Education’s Office of Education Directorates for Cooperation expressing support for IF’s work and a pledge to and facilitate achieving its goals in four provinces. The letter also communicated an urgent need for the cooperation of school administrations in accordance with the requirements of the project.

2. Achieving a meeting with the Minister of Immigration and Displaced Persons Mrs. Ivan Faiq in her office at the ministry's headquarters in Baghdad with Mr. Karim Al Nouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Immigration and Displaced Persons, Mr. Ali, Director of the Offices of the Branches of the Ministry of Immigration, and Ms. Noor, Secretary and Director of the Department of Women's Empowerment. The project received praise from the under/Secretaries on its positive impact in preventing and responding to violent extremism and received a reaffirmation of support in its continued work.

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Results Framework:

Objectives

Activities

Outputs Means of Verification Outcomes

Key Performance Indicators

Objective 1: Build capacities of men and women PVE leaders (community leaders, professionals, teachers), to conduct community outreach and provide PVE support to youth (12 to 18) and families.

Activity 1: To date, no less than 45 meetings with stakeholders and local authorities have been implemented in all seven work sites targeted by the project:

1. Al-Zafaraniya, Baghdad Governorate

2. Ramadi and Fallujah, Anbar Province

3. Hamdaniya and West Mosul, Nineveh Governorate

4. Tikrit and Al-Dur, Salahal-Din Governorate

These meetings aim to introduce the project and its objectives, invite participation, and provide the required support for the success of the project

Implementation of up to 45 meetings with local stakeholders and authorities through IF staff or partner organizations

Meeting photos Reports from partner organizations First baseline questionnaire Copies of the letters of support for the project

100% of stakeholders and local authorities contacted through the meetings have become direct supporters of the project and are ready to participate in the project's activities. At least 87.5% of the target sample in the first baseline questionnaire are willing to support the project. Obtaining the required letters of support

% increase in stakeholders and local authorities with whom they have met and have become direct supporters of the project and are ready to participate in the project activities % increase in the community sample of target areas who are willing to support the project.

Activity 2: Launching event in all 7 communities to build support and recruit participants for PVE training among community leaders and professionals

Implementation of 7 conferences in seven targeted regions totaling 378 participants, an increase of 28 people over the planned 350 participants.

Photo Reports from partner organizations Attendance lists monitored by IF staff Lists of candidates

100% of the required conferences were executed There was an overwhelming display of support for the conferences by participation rate.

All required conferences implemented Increase in conference participation

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219 of the participants volunteered to join the new leadership team in this project, which is 163 more people than required.

An equally overwhelming percentage of candidates to join the new leadership team in this project to the required number More than half of local authorities, community leaders and professionals in all seven targeted project sites are willing to support the project and participate in project activities.

Increase in the percentage of volunteers to join the team of new leaders in this project Increase in percentage of people willing to support the project and participate in project activities.

Activity 3b: IF and partner NGOs carried out 7 two-day training sessions for 67 participants (38 women and 39 men) of community leaders.

High quality of accredited training curriculum and materials distributed to participants - Highly skilled trainers

Schedule of trainings carried out A copy of the training curriculum A copy of the trainers' biography Training evaluation report Pictures Lists of participants

At least 23% increase in the participants’ awareness, information and skills which enable them to provide support and assistance to young people and affected groups in their communities in the future.

- % difference between before and after the questionnaire for trainees - % evaluation of the training material and the benefit achieved - % Quality and skills of trainers

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