therefore have significant knock-on effects on the availability of credible voices to counter the flow of FTFs. Community Engagement, Empowerment and Partnerships The impact of strategies to prevent and counter VERLT – how they are perceived, their effectiveness and the human rights concerns they may give rise to – depend on their focus, modus operandi and who they are developed and implemented by. The Hague-Marrakech Memorandum of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) emphasizes the importance of developing trusted relationships with communities “susceptible” to recruitment.208 But trust is often in short supply, and this trust deficit is exacerbated by the imposition of broad-based repressive initiatives that can even target would-be interlocutors. Policies that single out and prevent support for, or limit funding to religious or belief communities and other community groups, for example, may in some circumstances run counter to the stated goal of preventing terrorism, FTF recruitment and mobilization. It could also lead to further alienation.”209 Another noteworthy element of The Hague-Marrakech Memorandum is the reference to the empowerment of those best placed to affect change.210 This is also reflected in the UNSC Resolution 2178 (2014), which uses similar language when it: “Encourages Member States to engage relevant local communities and nongovernmental actors in developing strategies to counter the violent extremist narrative that can incite terrorist acts, address the conditions conducive to the spread of violent extremism, which can be conducive to terrorism, including by empowering youth, families, women, religious, cultural and education leaders, and all other concerned groups of civil society and adopt tailored approaches to countering recruitment to this kind of violent extremism and promoting social inclusion and cohesion”.211 Recognizing the importance of work by and with communities is an important step towards an inclusive, participative, human rights sensitive approach to counter-terrorism, including FTF recruitment and mobilization. One of the OSCE’s flag-ship projects, the “Leaders against Intolerance and Violent Extremism (LIVE)” initiative, builds the capacity of leaders in civil society – especially youth, women, and community leaders – to speak out and mobilize others against violent extremism that leads to terrorism.212 208  The Hague – Marrakech Memorandum, Good Practice #1, op. cit., note 194. 209  See: Gilles de Kerchove, “Foreword”, in FFILB, op. cit., note 14. 210  The Hague-Marrakech Memorandum, Good Practice #5, op. cit., note 194. 211  UNSC Resolution 2178 (2014), para. 16, op. cit., note 1. The UNSG Plan of Action on PVE likewise reflects the importance of empowerment of communities, of youth and of women; as does the OSCE Ministerial Declaration on VERLT. See UNSG Plan of Action on PVE, paras. 51-53, op. cit., note 206; and OSCE Ministerial Declaration on VERLT, paras. 13, 14, 19 (c) and (h), op. cit., note 152. 212  The project has been developed and is being implemented by the Action Against Terrorism Unit of the Transnational Threats Department in the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, <https://www.osce.org/secretariat/ terrorism>. 58 Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of “Foreign Terrorist Fighters”

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