Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE) received a delegation from the Council of Europe Committee on Counter-Terrorism (CDCT) on Tuesday, February, 28th 2023. During the visit, Dr. Reham Salama; Executive Director of the AOCE, welcomed Ilkka Salmi; EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, and the accompanying delegation and briefed them on the 13-language AOCE efforts and activities. Salama pointed out that AOCE researchers follow up and analyze terrorist organizations’ activities, publications, and all related racist and hate crimes, and write articles, reports, and books.
In addition, heads of different units of AOCE gave an overview on the field campaigns, such as #Listen_Talk and #Door_knocking, which aim at establishing direct links with the youth as well as university and school students to educate them on how to get true information from trustworthy sources without falling prey to disinformation. During these campaigns, discussions are held with the youth to learn about their preoccupations and concerns and receive their feedback on AOCE’s activities.
On their part, CDCT delegates commended AOCE efforts to eliminate the roots of the deviant thought and to address youth directly through field awareness campaigns. At the end of the visit, the delegation expressed its deep appreciation of AOCE efforts and publications, including books, magazines, reports, and visual productions that discuss vital matters of concern and address several global issues.