Mancham meets King of Spain at high-profile dialogue in Madrid hosted to stop violent extremism

Mancham meets King of Spain at high-profile dialogue in Madrid hosted to stop violent extremism

29-October-2015

Sir James R. Mancham, founding President of the Republic of Seychelles, is in Madrid, Spain, taking part in a high-level global dialogue on ‘Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism’, which has been organised by Le Club de Madrid in association with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR).
Otherwise referred to as ‘MADRID+10’, the dialogue is a two-day conference mobilising policy-makers, opinion formers, civil society and grassroots organisations around the concept of preventing and countering radicalisation and violent extremism, increasing public engagement and promoting grassroots initiatives.
The conference was officially opened by His Majesty King Felipe VI, of Bourbon and Greece, King of Spain, on Tuesday afternoon with an audience consisting of some 60 members of Le Club de Madrid who are either former president or former prime minister of democratic nations as well as diplomats and experts in security matters from around the world.
Le Club de Madrid is actually led by former President of Latvia, Vaira Vike Freiberga, who is ably assisted by Jennifer Mary Shipley, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Jorge Quiroga, a senior officer, and its secretary general is Carlos Westendorp, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain and deputy secretary general, Maria Elena Aguero.
Ten years ago, on the first anniversary of the Madrid train attacks, Le Club de Madrid convened a unique conference, International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, which brought together more than 1,000 world leaders and experts to analyse the causes of terrorism and find better, more sustainable ways for how it can be confronted.
The result was a Madrid Agenda – a document that had a profound impact on the global debate, giving rise to a new consensus while destroying the illusion that the political and social divisions that produce and provide justification for terrorism can be resolved through military means alone.
Ten years on, extremism and radicalism of fundamental groups is seriously undermining human rights and democratic values. The result of violent attacks committed in France, Belgium, Denmark, Nigeria, Tunisia and the turmoil in the Middle East is deeply impacting the international community. Large parts of Syria and Iraq are being taken over by a group which calls itself ‘Islamic State’ (IS) but has little to do with the Islamic faith, values and aspirations of the vast majority of the Muslims across the world.
“The vicious violent conflict figured by extremism – one that could be more damaging and destabilising the global peace than any conflict since the end of the Cold War, could lead much of the world’s attention to focus on the military solutions. However, we believe that consistent with the Madrid Agenda, the military means alone, without adequate long-term multi approach strategies and foreign policy, will not be sufficient in dealing with the multi conflicts, causes and extremist ideology that have produced the current situation. Thus, it is time for world leaders, opinion formers and experts from different backgrounds and parts of the world to come together to analyse the drivers of conflicts, change the debates and agree on what needs to be done and commit to a plan of action,” Sir James explained.
The aim of the current policy dialogue is to identify good practices, policies, tools and mechanisms with global and local relevance. It is providing an opportunity to share national strategies as well as grassroots initiatives focused at developing credible counter narratives generated at the local and regional community. This global consensus will become even more relevant in the context of the mass immigration crisis, which is now ongoing in Europe.
Yesterday afternoon, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, was expected to deliver a keynote address at the closure of the conference.
The event has certainly highlighted the important role which institutions like Le Club de Madrid, the European Centre for Peace and Development (ECPD), the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD), the World Future Council (WFC) and the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) are being called upon in assisting to find solutions to various regional and global problems.
For more information about the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence – see website www.icsr.info
For more information about Le Club de Madrid – see website www.clubmadrid.org
Sir James is expected back in Seychelles on Saturday.

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