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The International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism, a Programme Office of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism in Doha, concluded a virtual workshop on the theme of Using Behavioural Insights to Address the Intersection of Internet, Mental Health, and Radicalisation to Violent Extremism in Europe. 

In her welcoming remarks, Dr. Aynabat Atayeva, Chief of the International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism (UNOCT), pointed out that “as radicalisation evolved with technology and drew in more recruits in the process, researchers and practitioners noticed that the typology of recruits also changed. One significant ‘change’ factor was the role of mental health.”

“UNDP is in partnership with UNOCT, working in close partnership to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of violent extremism.” Mr. Biplove Choudhary, UNDP Technical Representative and Head of Office, Doha, Qatar, noted in his welcoming remarks.

Featuring presentations by and joint discussion session with practitioners and experts on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) and radicalization, the workshop consolidated knowledge about the combined role of mental health and the internet in the contemporary radicalisation process and identified areas that require further investigation. 

The workshop was the second in a series of awareness-raising and capacity-building initiatives organised by the UNOCT International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism (BI Hub), based in Doha, Qatar. In the coming months, the Bl Hub will continue to hold individual workshops and training courses for diplomatic missions, security forces, programme practitioners, CSOs and national research intuitions from Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Middle East regions.

About the International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism

The International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism, a UNOCT Programme Office in Doha, was established by UNOCT in partnership with the State of Qatar in 2020.

The International Hub will serve as a global platform for creating knowledge around behavioural insights to prevent and counter terrorism, disseminating lessons learned and good practices, and creating a professional network of experts, academics, practitioners, and policymakers. The Hub will provide innovative, results-oriented, and impactful capacity-building support that meets the needs and priorities of Member States to address evolving terrorist threats, leveraging its field presence for closer support to beneficiaries seeking technical assistance. It will also provide outreach opportunities to strengthen coordination among various counter-terrorism actors on behaviourally informed interventions and mobilise synergies and resources for joint programming. 

ADDITIONAL QUOTES

Nils Duits, Forensic Psychiatrist & Project Manager at Netherlands Forensic Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology 
“Psychopathology matters in relation to other risk indicators of terrorist offending; it is not a question of bad or mad.” 

Paul Gill, Professor of Security and Crime Science at University College London
“Rather than focusing on a single factor like problems associated with poor mental health, we need to consider the interplay of different complex needs and the protective factors needed to manage risk downward.”

Daniel Koehler, Director of the German Institute on Radicalisation and Deradicalisation Studies (GIRDS)  
"Trauma is an overlooked and critical factor in radicalization.”

H?kan J?rv?, Mental Health and Rehabilitation Working Group, Radicalisation Awareness Network Practitioners (RAN Practitioners)
“Assessments for neuropsychiatric and psychiatric diagnosis should be part of every effort aimed at countering violent extremism because different diagnosis have distinctive traits that are important to understand both in preventive work and in deradicalization work.”

Vidhya Ramalingam, founder & CEO, Moonshot
"Our research has shown that across the spectrum, extremist audiences are most receptive to non-ideological psychosocial interventions than explicit 'counter-narratives'." 

Sophia Moskalenko, Researcher at National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
“Existing mental health services are ill-equipped to help those who radicalized online into either QAnon or Incel movement.”