Would you engage former fighters from the Middle East as mentors for individuals who wish to leave violence and extremism behind, even if your target group comes from a different cultural, social or geographical context? Fighters for Peace recently held a workshop about Mentorship Skills for former combatants, because we believe that formers can help others in their deradicalization and reintegration processes. Why? Because in a way formers are peers, they have been there, they have experienced or exerted violence themselves before they changed; they know how difficult it is to leave violence and extremism behind, they know which obstacles might be in the way but have managed to overcome them. Last, but not least, they do not judge others but rather understand underlying causes for which individuals might have engaged in violence and extremism because they had done so before as well. Therefore, formers can be great assets to be included in professional teams when it comes to gaining the trust of persons who wish to leave extremist environments behind - with trust being key to support individuals in such challenging processes of change and personal transformation.
#formers
#extremism
#deradicalization
#exit
#reintegration
#mentoring
#mentorship
#fightersforpeace
Powerful. Thank you for sharing.