PURPOSE: By the resolution 77/243; The United Nations General Assembly declared February 12th as International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism (PVE day). The aims of the day is to strengthen the international community’s resolve to address the conditions conducive to terrorism, to raise awareness on the threat of violent extremism and to renew commitments to collaborate on preventing its spread. The observance of International PVE Day provides an opportunity for the global community to come together and explore innovative ways to transform the commitments outlined in the Pact for the Future into meaningful and concrete actions, to create a safer world and lasting peace for generations to come.

FORUM: “Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE): A Path to Sustainable Peace“ International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism 2025. Millions of people have fled the territory controlled by terrorist and violent extremist groups. Violent extremism conducive to terrorism remains a profound challenge to global peace and security. The rise of new tools, in digital and offline spaces, for spreading violent extremist ideologies has further amplified this threat, creating unprecedented opportunities for harmful narratives to take root and grow. Terrorist groups like ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and their affiliates continue to exploit instability and conflict to expand and intensify attacks in many parts of the world. These groups exploit conflict, fragility, poverty, weak governance and marginalization to recruit and indoctrinate followers including through narratives of grievance and actual or perceived injustice. No country is immune from the threat of terrorist attacks and the impact of terrorism and violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism. While Member States and their respective national institutions have primary responsibility in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, academia, religious leaders, and the media also play an important role in addressing this scourge. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #12february, #extremists, #violentextremism, #counterterrorism, #PVEDay. 

EVENTS: On February 12th 2025, the United Nations will commemorate the third ‘International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism as and when Conducive to Terrorism’ through a series of events and activities. The International PVE Day brings together Member States, the United Nations system and all relevant stakeholders—including civil society, religious leaders, the private sector, academia and the media, to enhance cooperation to prevent and combat terrorism in a coordinated, inclusive, transparent and human rights-based, gender-responsive manner.

At UNHQ on 12 February 2025, starting at 1:15 PM EDT, the high-level event to mark the International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) organized by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the UN and UNOCT, under the framework of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Compact Working Group on PCV will be held. Get the Agenda/Concept note and Watch the live event!

On February 12th, starting at 3:00 PM EDT a Side Event entitled ‘‘Prevention of Violent Extremism through the Implementation of Tajikistan’s National Strategy on Countering Terrorism and Extremism (2021-2025)” Organized by UNOCT, UNRCCA and the Permanent Mission of the Tajikistan to the UN will be held. Get the Concept note!

STATEMENTS: Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on the International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) 2025; February 12th.

• Opening remarks by Mr. Vladimir Voronkov, Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism on the International Day for the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) 2025; February 12th.

• Remarks of the Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism on the side event: Prevention of Violent Extremism through the Implementation of Tajikistan’s “National Strategy on Countering Terrorism and Extremism (2021-2025)

PUBLICATIONS: "Who supports violent extremism in developing countries? What are the common characteristics among radicalized individuals, willing to justify attacks targeting civilians? Drawing on information on attitudes toward extreme violence and other characteristics of 30,787 individuals from 27 developing countries around the world, and employing a variety of econometric techniques, this paper identifies the partial correlates of extremism. The results suggest that the typical extremist who supports attacks against civilians is more likely to be young, unemployed and struggling to make ends meet, relatively uneducated, and not as religious as others, but more willing to sacrifice own life for his or her beliefs. Gender and marital status are not found to explain significantly the individual-level variation in attitudes toward extremism. Although these results may vary in magnitude and significance across countries and geographic regions, they are robust to various sensitivity analyses. Read the full policy working paper!

Countering violent extremism while respecting the rights and autonomy of women and their communities. Issued by the 1325 Committee. At present the world is gripped with fear of rising violent extremism. Although research shows that societies that respect women’s rights are less prone to extremism, women’s rights should not be securitized and should not be seen as an instrumental tool for countering extremism. Rather, women’s rights are an end in and of themselves. Across regions, a common thread shared by extremist groups is that in every instance their advance has been coupled with attacks on the rights of women and girls—rights to education, to public life, and to decision-making over their own bodies. Counter-terrorism and CVE overlook the spectrum of roles that women play in both preventing and participating in violent extremism. The women peace and security agenda provides a framework for a de-militarized and preventive response to terrorism and violent extremism, and several recent international mandates acknowledge this correlation. The risk of co-opting and instrumentalizing women’s rights is high. Where women’s advocacy becomes too closely associated with a government’s counter terrorism agenda, the risk of backlash against women’s rights defenders, in often already volatile environments, increases. Women are also impacted by counter-terrorism tactics: securitization can increase women’s insecurity and stricter banking procedures and donor policies can impact women’s organizations adversely. As such, women are ‘squeezed’ between terrorism and counter-terrorist responses. Read the full publication!

Countering Violent Extremism Online and Offline issued by START. In the wake of devastating attacks by violent extremists around the world, policy makers have invested considerable effort into understanding terrorists’ use of the Internet as they radicalize and mobilize to violence. Read the full publication!