Sri Lanka seeks international expertise to prevent extremism 

The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) has stated a mission to assist Sri Lanka in combatting and preventing extremism.

Executive Director of GCERF Khalid Koser was invited to Sri Lanka by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss and draft tentative programmes for GCERF assistance.

During his meeting with political leaders and senior officials, Koser stressed the need for national ownership, effective coordination and knowledge on the local context for any GCERF assistance in preventing violent extremism (PVE).


While briefing officials on GCERF’s similar engagements in Bangladesh, Tunisia, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, the Philippines and Myanmar, he explained that PVE operations must be tailor-made to suit the local context, thereby varying from one country to another – and this is reportedly why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking international expertise.

Although the security forces are said to have brought the situation under control after the Easter Sunday attacks, the need of the hour remains to address those in detention and prevent radicalisation.