The pillar of Dialogue and Conflict Prevention is central to the implementation of the Strategy for Preventing Violent Extremism. Dialogue is indeed both a goal and a means: it is a goal since it establishes the values of pluralism, acceptance of others and reliance on peaceful means to resolve problems. It is also a means used by civilized democratic societies to deal with their social components. This is linked to the fact that the greater the space of dialogue among individuals and groups, the less likely that conflicts will erupt. Therefore, Dialogue and Conflict Prevention should be seen not only as a stand-alone category, but rather as one in which all the following areas intersect.

Conduct a community conflict mapping exercise to relate to the PVE Unit’s social mechanism for monitoring social transformations and early detection of conflicts and social tensions which could lead to violent extremism.

The program should aim at: 1) Providing trainings for Civil Society Organizations, teachers, municipality staff and security forces personnel on alternative dispute resolution techniques. 2) Providing support to participant entities to spread and transfer the knowledge they learned within their respective constituencies.

Organize local dialogue sessions in various forms: townhalls, local conferences, community workshops, etc. The goal is for these activities to act as a safe space for dialogue among citizens of the same community with the goal of preventing conflicts, building trust and increasing local resilience.

Organize dialogue sessions using intergenerational dialogue models. This modality implies a training component on dialogue techniques as well as conflict analysis and resolution, in addition to dialogue sessions in various regions. The aim of the intergenerational dialogue sessions is to have a dialogue between the Lebanese young people and the older generation to discuss Lebanon’s contemporary history, extract lessons for intergenerational policymaking – policy assessment methodology that provides ex ante evaluation of the potential effects on intergenerational concerns and interests; develop infrastructure to promote intergenerational activities; and reduce young people’s prejudice.

Organize dialogue sessions between citizens and state institutions especially security ones. The sessions shall increase the awareness of citizens about the form and function of state and security institutions as well as the reality of the security status and risks in Lebanon. Sessions shall provide an interactive platform for a safe exchange of ideas, perceptions, and feedback from citizens and state institutions on the actions needed to improve delivery and implementation of services, especially security ones on the local and national levels.