Conference on countering extremism in Kazakhstan Monday

Thirteen South and Central Asian countries, including Bangladesh, will meet together in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 29-30 to discuss ways to counter violent extremism within the framework of good governance and the rule of law, especially through partnerships with civil society. Ministers, senior government officials, and civil society representatives from 13 countries will participate in the South and Central Asia Regional Conference on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). Senior officials from the Home and Foreign Affairs Ministries will represent Bangladesh at the conference, said an official here on Saturday.
Kazakhstan will host the summit that aims to facilitate the sharing of best practices and the development of concrete CVE initiatives, and several countries from the region are expected to adopt and announce their commitment to implement these CVE initiatives at a follow-on leaders’ event to take place on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York in September. The conference in Astana follows the successful conference on ‘Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in South and Central Asia: the Role of Civil Society’ for nongovernmental organisations from the South and Central Asia region, held on June 23-25 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Both conferences built upon the February 19 White House Summit to Counter Violent Extremism, which outlined an ambitious agenda to address the root causes and drivers of violent extremism. Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection Gil Kerlikowske will lead the high-level US delegation to the conference, according to US Department of State. He will be accompanied by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Eileen O’Connor, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Robert Berschinski, other US State Department and USAID officials, and representatives of city and federal law enforcement agencies, according to a news agency.