Press release
Voices from Mali
02 Oct 2019
About
Voices from Mali, launched in August 2019, is part of the Mali (Dis-)Engagement and Re-Integration related to Terrorism (MERIT) project, headed by the ICCT and UNICRI, which supports efforts to prevent violent extremism, facilitate rehabilitation and reintegration of violent extremist offenders, and mitigate the risk of radicalisation in Mali.
More specifically, Voices from Mali is part of a MERIT training course called Advanced Media Training for Malian Youth, designed and developed by ICCT and UNICRI in collaboration with Think Peace Sahel, Conseil National de la Jeunesse, International Alert, SNV-ICCO-OXFAM, and the Malian media NGO, Tuwindi. The training course is aimed at promoting knowledge of the media and enhancing critical thinking in order to allow young people to recognise violent propaganda and to resist to all forms of indoctrination, radicalisation, and hate speech.
Voices from Mali takes the form of interviews with Malian youth conducted during the Advanced Media Training for Malian Youth sessions, yet also includes independent videos sent to ICCT and UNICRI from the Malian youth who have taken part in these sessions and have valuable opinions to share.
List of videos with the Malian Youth
March 2020
Supported by the Royal Danish Embassy, and in close collaboration with Think Peace Sahel, Conseil National de la Jeunesse, International Alert, and SNV-ICCO-OXFAM, a set of engagement and empowerment training sessions addressed to young people to promote alternatives to violence have been carried out. In particular, youth leaders have been supported in developing media literacy and alternative narratives, local practices have been strengthened while ensuring local ownerships, raising awareness and promoting dialogue and inclusion. One example of a powerful counter-narrative is included in this video, which provides a message of peace for young people in Mali and throughout the Sahel region.
August 2019
Yagare Diakite, a trainer from the Malian media NGO, Tuwindi, on how, contrary to popular belief youths are actually the ones mobilizing against radicalisation and are the key to mitigating violent extremism.
Djeneba Coumare on the problem of employability at the early stages of the educational background, and the issues this creates.
To Mahmoud El Hadj on cultural communication in Mali.
