The number of terrorist attacks have become more and more frequent in Togo. Most recently, the north of Kpendjal reported a terrorist attach in July 2022. Since the political crisis of 2017, conflictual relations between the police and civilians have become more common, especially in the town of Sokodé.

During 2015, social, ethnic, and land conflicts arose in the city of Mango, pitting various ethnic groups and broader communities against authorities. In addition, the aggravated poverty, health crisis, political frustrations as well as the proliferation of hate messages have added to the factors increasing the risk of radicalization towards violent extremism.

Against this background, several stakeholders have contributed to the prevention of violent extremism (PVE) and promotion of peace with their own means. However, the actions haven’t been effective and the challenges are persisting due to the scatteredness of the actors. Thus, it is important to create synergy of action between different actors for more lasting results. The NOKADAKA project (‘union of people’ in the Kotokoli language) attempts to provide a solution that unifies the scattered actors.

Goals of the project:

• To strengthen the capacities of 75 actors from three cities in Togo.

• To engage these actors in awareness raising activities.

• To facilitate an advocacy space for the prevention of violent extremism.

In July and August, exchange frameworks were set up. These frameworks included:

Peace Talks

This is an informal forum with the theme of ‘Challenges within Communities and Common Approaches to Solutions’ was arranged between citizens, community leaders, religious leaders and local authorities. The peace talk was organized in collaboration with CIPLEV.

The Marrakesh of Peace

Commenced on August 12, this was inspired by the show “Marrakesh du rire”, and this activity adapted the conceot of a humoristic show to sensitize the populations of Lomé on the causes of violent extremism and why there is a need to counter it.

Advocacy meetings with local authorities, representatives of state institutions were arranged to discuss the challenges to social cohesion. Issues that could promote the escalation of violent extremism as well as the approaches and recommendations were discussed among the stakeholders.

Finally, ‘Facing the Panel,’ a session was organized under the theme of ‘Human Rights in a Context of the Fight Against Violent Extremism: Issues and Challenges.’ The session aimed to provide a platform for discussion and analysis on challenges as the protection of human rights, citizenship training, relations with institutions of the Republic, CNDH, HAAC, the Mediator of the Republic, members of the Watch Panel, CIPLEV, Ministry of Security and Civil Protection, opinion leaders, international institutions and diplomatic missions accredited to Togo (US Embassy, French Embassy, German Embassy, Delegation of the European Union, UNDP, ICRC) and the young beneficiaries of the project.

The information contained in the article represents the views and opinions of the author and not necessarily of the Peacemakers Network or iDove project.