- PREPARE: Promoting collaborative policies of inclusion relating to children of far right and Islamist parents in Western Europe
Date: 2022 – 2023.
Role: Lead Investigator
This EU-funded project aims to identify the vulnerabilities and stigmas children may face when their parents are part of violent extremist networks and how those can best be addressed by relevant front-line actors in an informed, prepared, and collaborative way that centres on the needs of the child. PREPARE is guided by a human-rights, rule-of-law and gender informed approach.
PREPARE aims to support these children by working with frontline practitioners in six European countries (the Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden, Germany & Kosovo) to develop a state-of-the-art Child Vulnerability and Intervention Tool to identify the stigmas and vulnerabilities that children may experience. Moreover, PREPARE aims to develop training modules to support a wide range of stakeholders who are working with these children and their families.
Project website and further information is here.
For a recent article on questions I discuss about prepare see here.
2. Prosecution, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration: Practices in Iraq
Date: 2022
ICCT experts led a series of four roundtables, held between February and April 2022 and designed to enhance awareness among GoI stakeholders of good practices in PRR and to provide a forum to address the many challenges facing Iraq in the repatriation of its approximately 30,000 nationals from northeast Syria. Faced with a particularly complex and unique group of citizens with differing levels of involvement with ISIL and a diverse range of experiences, the unprecedented situation confronting the Government of Iraq is one that will require a long-term, sustainable approach, including ongoing technical assistance.
Among the range of topics covered during the roundtables included:
I. Screening, Risk Assessment, and Needs Assessment;
II. Rehabilitation, with Particular Emphasis on the Rehabilitation Needs of Women and Minors;
III. Reintegration into Local Iraqi Communities;
IV. Next Steps and the Way Forward.
Participants of the roundtables included representatives from Iraqi government institutions, at both the central and governorate levels, as well as representatives from the international community, including UNOCT, UNICEF, UNCTED, UNESCO, UNDP, and others.
For more information see the ICCT website.
Joana Cook PhD 