PREPARE

In this EU-funded project, ICCT and its PREPARE partners, including research organisations and law enforcement entities, take a human-rights, rule-of-law, and gender-informed approach to make contemporary knowledge, training, and tools accessible to practitioners working with the children of far right and Islamist parents.

The PREPARE project team at ICCT has conducted extensive desk-based research on the unique stigmas, vulnerabilities, and protective factors children may develop in family environments where they are exposed to violent extremism, and conducted a series of interviews with experts, practitioners and family members. The PREPARE project team brought together a range of experts and front-line practitioners in a series of workshops to draw out their insights on the vulnerabilities and risk factors of children from violent extremist-affiliated families. Research findings, along with these insights, were used to inform the design of a new, unique Child Vulnerability and Intervention Tool, as well as tailor a Train-The-Trainer Training Programme, and a "Practitioners’ Guide to Working with Children in VE-Affiliated Families: Protecting the Rights of the Child."

These cutting-edge resources will support frontline practitioners in six European countries (the Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden, Germany & Kosovo) working directly with these children and their families.

Highlights

Publication of Train-the-Trainer Training Programme

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The PREPARE project team has published a comprehensive Train-the-Trainer handbook to support the work of frontline practitioners engaging with children whose families are linked to violent extremist networks. The overall aim of the training is to increase professionals’ recognition of some of the unique experiences that children may have when an immediate family member is involved in violent extremism. The focus is largely on families with links to far-right violent extremists and jihadism (including persons who travelled to or from conflict zones).

Download the handbook and find out more here.

Child Vulnerability and Intervention Tool

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The PREPARE project team has developed two versions of a supporting proof-of-concept tool for the practice of social and health work for children. The tools answer the practitioners’ needs by bridging the gap between the practice and state-of-the-art knowledge regarding the child’s development and contextual specificities of the target groups of the PREPARE project. They have both been developed in a co-creation process with academic experts and practitioners and are two different ways of operationalizing the guiding questions, a set of questions based out of the literature and interview findings.

View the PDF version of the tool and view the demo here.

Final PREPARE Conference June 2023

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In June 2023, the PREPARE project team presented its final key insights and findings from the research. A panel among experts in the fields of human rights, child development, and social services discussed the policy changes necessary to preserve the safety and rights of children whose families are affiliated with violent extremism.

Key insights highlighted were:

Children from VE-affiliated families are still children.
A systematic repatriation overhaul, moving forward, is necessary to ensure fair and equal treatment of all children throughout the process.
Every child is unique, meaning a one-fits-all approach to intervention and support is inappropriate.
Frontline practitioners, from teachers to social workers to healthcare professionals to law enforcement, should be supported and educated in how to overcome existing societal stigmas and build trust with the children and their families; they should have guidance on how to handle complex scenarios while avoiding re-traumatization of the children.
De-securitisation and human rights is key.

The finalised tools and training guides created by PREPARE were presented. The Train-the-Trainer Training Programme and the Child Vulnerability and Intervention Tool contribute to addressing the need for nuanced and individual recommendations for each child.

PREPARE Workshops May 2022 - March 2023

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The first PREPARE workshop, coordinated by Leiden University, took place on May 11, 2022 in The Hague.  The second PREPARE workshop was held in Dublin from November 16-17, 2022. The third workshop was held in The Hague on March 10, 2023.

Each workshop brought together experts and front-line practitioners working with children exposed to and affected by violent extremism, such as psychologists, social workers and law enforcement professionals, as well as project partners and advisory board members to discuss vulnerabilities and risk factors of children from violent extremist families, and present work carried out under the PREPARE project. Workshops notably involved front-line practitioners in the process of creating the training and tool PREPARE is developing to support these practitioners in their work with children of violent extremism. 

Learn more here.

Key Publication

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ICCT experts wrote “A Practitioner’s Guide to Working with Children in VE-Affiliated Families: Protecting the Rights of the Child”. This guide provides guidance for practitioners on how to support children from families affiliated with violent extremism through a human rights- and rule of law-compliant approach.

Access this publication here.

PREPARE Blogs

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A series of blog posts written by ICCT experts and the project team gave concise summaries of the approach and initial findings of the PREPARE team on the topics of:

- rule-of-law and human rights-based approaches toward children of violent extremist parents;

- an overview of good practices on trainings for first-line practitioners working in the field of violent extremism; Children of far-right violent extremist families;

- multidisciplinary approaches to support children growing up in violent extremist environments;

- whether growing up in a violent extremist environment can be considered an 'Adverse Childhood Experience' (ACE) like 'any other'?

Access these publications here.

About the project

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The EU faces ongoing concerns from radicalisation and terrorist violence posed by Islamist (including returnees) and far-right extremists. Yet there remains a significant knowledge gap related to state-led interventions to manage, support, and (as required) rehabilitate, and reintegrate children whose parents are affiliated with violent extremist organisations.

The societal bias, sensationalism, and exceptionalism often associated with violent extremism compounds risks of stigma and securitisation of these children. Steps, where required, should be taken towards their rehabilitation and reintegration as measures to address their vulnerabilities. Viewing children as vulnerable (and sometimes traumatised), rather than as ‘ticking time bombs’, will ensure that approaches prioritise their rights and well-being, further enhancing their resilience.

This perspective led to the start of a new, EU-funded project: Promoting collaborative policies of inclusion relating to children of far right and Islamist parents in Western Europe (PREPARE). PREPARE was guided by a human-rights, rule-of-law and gender informed approach. PREPARE helped make contemporary knowledge, training, and tools accessible to practitioners working with children of violent extremists. The PREPARE project focused on six case studies: Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain and Kosovo.

This project identified the vulnerabilities and stigmas children may face when their parents are part of violent extremist networks, and provided resources to ensure relevant front-line actors are ready to act in an informed, well-prepared, and collaborative way that centres on the needs of the child.

The project further supported the spread of understanding through:

The development of a new, unique Child Vulnerability and Intervention Tool;
The Train-The-Trainer Training Programme and training activities, to assist professionals in delivering support;
Targeted workshops focused on identifying and supporting the vulnerabilities of children and tailor tools;
Knowledge dissemination through leveraging networks and publications, promoting the preparedness and stakeholder collaboration of those working directly with these children and families.

You can find the official website for the PREPARE project here and more related publications here.