PRESS RELEASE
Niamey, Niger: 29th – 30th April 2019 – The G5 Sahel Regional Cell for the Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism (CELLRAD), with the support from USAID's Partnerships for Peace Project (P4P), have developed a lexicon on radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism for the G5 Sahel region. The lexicon is aimed to facilitate communication among member countries through the promotion and usage of appropriate terms.
There are various existing interpretations and different terminologies related to terrorism, radicalization and violent extremism, which can and have complicated exchanges between journalists, international institutions and political actors. Often, several words such as “armed group” and “self-defense group” define the same reality, while others such as Jihad have led to stereotypes and prejudices against societies, communities, cultures and religions. This is a major hindrance for effective communication around violent extremism issues, which also can affect social cohesion among the various actors.
The Violent Extremism phenomenon has a constant influx of new terminologies related to the field of radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism, and thus the development of a lexicon for various actors across the G5 Sahel member states became a necessity. The lexicon will serve as a standardized vocabulary providing clear and concise definitions.
The event, titled "Validation Workshop of the Lexicon on Radicalization and Violent Extremism in the G5 Sahel", brought together over fifty participants from the five G5 Sahel countries, in order to finalize the document and to ensure guaranteed quality of form and substance. The validation was held at the Grand Hôtel de Niamey and attracted a lot of enthusiasm from participants.
