On 20 May 2016, PGA Secretary General, Dr. David Donat Cattin, had a very productive meeting with the Executive Director of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) Dr. Khalid Koser and his colleague Katya Palazzolo, Senior Board and External Relations Officer. The meeting took place at GCERF headquarters in Geneva.

The purpose of the meeting was to exchange views on PGA’s new Campaign to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism and the innovative mandate of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund. Operating at the nexus of security and development, GCERF is committed to working in partnership and consultation with governments, civil society, and the private sector in beneficiary countries to support national strategies to address the local drivers of violent extremism.

GCERF’s Executive Director proposed possible modalities of cooperation between PGA’s Parliamentary Campaign to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism (PCVE) and his Organization, including in respect to the implementation of policies that may have been instrumental to radicalization into violent extremism in countries targeted by projects supported by GCERF.

The meeting resulted in a willingness to develop a true partnership between GCERF and PGA in the effort to address and eliminate the theoretical and practical bases of violent extremism.