News
17 Nov 2019
End of project workshop: Towards More Effective Human Security Approaches
A recent research project by the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute provides insight into Human Security (HS) approaches that empower community stakeholders to participate in and contribute to security dynamics. How improved HS programming can address the drivers of violent extremism? How state...
21 May 2015
Arab region cooperative framework necessary to address ongoing conflict
21 May 2015, Amman, Jordan: HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal today called for policy-makers to consider a broad, inclusive, interdisciplinary and systematic framework to better understand the impact of protracted conflict and violence in the West Asia region, at an expert group meeting organised by th...
07 Feb 2019
Sustaining Peace in the WANA Region
In partnership with the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation hosted an interactive workshop on Sustaining Peace in the WANA Region on 6 and 7 February in Amman. Academic experts, UN staff, civil society actors, and government representatives participated in the di...
21 Jan 2022
Youth in Zarqa cooperate with municipality to address pressing issues in their community.
Amman, 18 January 2022 - Youth are frequently excluded from local decision-making and often frustrated by limited opportunities for cooperation and dialogue. “Young Cities” is a global programme that connects young people to local government. The project works with youth as well as community member...
21 Apr 2016
WANA Institute co-hosts expert roundtable on sustainable energy, refugees and national resilience
On April 19-20, the WANA Institute, together with Chatham House and with kind support from the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs, organised a high-level expert roundtable on sustainable energy, refugees and national resilience. It brought together a wide range of experts and stakeholders from NGOs,...
15 Jul 2020
The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Combating Extremist Ideology
AMMAN, JORDAN: The Strong Cities Network in Jordan , and in collaboration with our implementing partner, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, held its Fourth virtual panel discussion (Diwaniya) on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, titled: “THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN COMBATING EXTREMI...
24 Aug 2017
What Does the Journey of Jordanian Foreign Fighters Returning to Jordan Teach Us about Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Efforts?
A recent study by the West Asia – North Africa (WANA) Institute shows that by focussing on key drivers of radicalisation, we might be overlooking more targeted approaches.
The main focus of CVE efforts is currently on fighting key drivers, such as under-employment, lack of civic agency, and corrupti...
24 Jun 2020
The Impact of Violence on Social Cohesion and Peace
AMMAN, JORDAN: The Strong Cities Network in Jordan , and in collaboration with our implementing partner, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, held its third virtual panel discussion (Diwaneyeh) on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, titled: “The impact of violence on social cohesion and peace” as part...
10 Jun 2020
The Role of Moderate Religious Discourse in Combating Extremist Ideology
AMMAN, JORDAN: The Strong Cities Network in Jordan and Lebanon, and in collaboration with our implementing partner, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, held its second virtual panel discussion (Diwaneyeh) on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, titled: “The Role of Moderate Religious Discourse in Comb...
22 Jul 2020
The Role of the Family and the Media in Combating Extremist Ideology
AMMAN, JORDAN: The Strong Cities Network in Jordan, and in collaboration with the implementing partner, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, held its fifth “Diwaneyeh”, on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, titled: “The Role of the Family and the Media In Combating Extremist Ideology” as part of the...
25 Oct 2021
WANA Hosts a Panel on Challenges and Prospects of European-Jordan Trade
On October 25, Intercontinental Hotel, Amman, Jordan - The West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute hosted an event on the current challenges of EU-Jordan trade relations, and prospects for expanding them. The event is a EuroMeSCo Back to the Field Session, “Towards More Robust EU-Jordan Trade: Chall...
03 Aug 2016
New Publication on Energy Resilience and Refugees
Following a high-level workshop held in Amman on 19-20 April 2016, a report has now been published. It was co-authored by Adel Elsayed Sparr, Deputy Director at the WANA Institute, Glada Lahn, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House, and Owen Grafham, Project Coordinator at Chatham House, was made p...
10 Sep 2018
WANA Region Needs Youth-Focused Human Security Approach
According to the latest Global Peace Index GPI 2018, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) region is less peaceful today than at any time in the past decade. In a recent publication, the WANA Institute argues that introducing a youth-focused human security approach can help tackle the region’s security ...
17 Apr 2019
Measuring the Impact of the Syrian Refugee Crisis on the Jordanian Economy
The West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute and Mercy Corps held a high-level panel discussion on Wednesday to highlight their recent research findings on the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on the Jordanian economy.
The panel consisted of Reem Goussous, Managing Director of Endeavor Jordan; Lai...
12 Aug 2018
Improved Human Security Measures to Counter Violent Extremism in Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia
The West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute gathered 20 stakeholders from Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia in Amman today to discuss its preliminary research findings emerging from a regional research project titled “Towards more effective human security approaches in Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia.”
Huma...
26 Apr 2018
From Global to Local: Debating Security Plus in the Jordanian Context
The West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute and Friends of Europe gathered 15 national experts and policy-makers on Thursday to discuss how to localise Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) efforts. Participants debated on how to implement community-driven P/CVE projects and design counter...
19 Mar 2018
Post-Daesh and Still Desperate
Despite Daesh’s military defeat, many of the drivers that encouraged individuals to join the violent extremist group have not been addressed. According to a recent West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute report, violent extremist groups are adjusting their recruitment techniques accordingly.
While m...
21 May 2020
The Role of Youth in Countering Extremist Ideology
AMMAN, JORDAN: The Strong Cities Network in Jordan, and in collaboration with our implementing partner, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute, held its first virtual seminar (Diwaneyeh) on Thursday, May 21, 2020, as part of the network’s newly launched series of virtual seminars: “Diwaneyat” i...
20 Dec 2017
Women’s Role in Countering Violent Extremism
An estimated 3,000 of the 20,000 foreign fighters who joined Daesh were women. While the focus has primarily been on Western cases, women from the West Asia – North Africa region were also drawn to the cause. A recent study by the WANA Institute analyses how women are affected by violent extremist o...
17 Oct 2018
Jordanian Minister for Labour HE Samir Murad Speaks at Wilton Park Event on Youth Unemployment in the Levant alongside Young Jordanian Entrepreneurs
Wilton Park, with the support of the WANA Institute, has gathered 50 experts from 13 countries in Jordan from 16 to 18 October to address the employment challenges currently facing young people in the Levant region. The region has the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, standing in Jordan,...
12 Nov 2017
Towards a Unified Human Security and P/CVE Method in Jordan
A recent study by the West Asia – North Africa (WANA) Institute shows that more efforts are needed to unite human security and preventing/countering violent extremism (P/CVE) methods in Jordan.
The research argues that P/CVE should be understood as a pillar of human security, as opposed to as an iso...
30 Jul 2017
Human Security and Radicalisation Drivers in Jordan
On 30 July 2017, the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute gathered 25 experts to discuss the relationship between human security programming and projects that aim to counter violent extremism in Jordan.
The WANA Institute shared its research findings which identified obstacles to efficient human ...
30 Nov 2020
Roundtable - Jordan-EU Dialogue on Human Security Issues
AMMAN- JORDAN, The West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) hosted an interactive roundtable on “Jordan-EU Dialogue on Human Security Issues” on 30 November in Amman. Academic experts, civil society actors, and government representatives participated...
07 Jun 2016
WANA Institute Featured in Together We Stand, a UNOCHA and Tudor Rose Publication for the World Humanitarian Summit
The WANA Institute was featured with an article in Together We Stand, which is a public-private partnership publication by Tudor House and UNOCHA for the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul 23-24 May. The book collected short articles from various humanitarian actors, who drew on their knowledge, ...
22 Sep 2016
Human Security Workshop Success
The WANA Institute, working with a team of local and international partners, held a successful event titled ‘Human Security in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings’ this September. The event, attended by local NGOs, international organisations and government and regional representatives, looked at...
19 Dec 2021
Youth in karak Conduct a Needs Assessment Exercise to Present Findings to Policy Makers
The youth group shadowing the Local Prevention Network in Karak -a Strong Cities Network model - conducted a needs assessment in order to present pertinent evidence, findings and recommendations to the relevant policy makers, on which they hope the decision makers will plan, programme and implement ...
12 Jul 2015
WANA Fellows Participate in the Third Annual Hague Peace Conference
Last week, WANA Research Fellows Kim Wilkinson and Emily Hawley attended the Third Annual Peace Conference, hosted by The Hague University of Applied Sciences, in the Netherlands, after being selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants.
The Third Annual Hague Peace Conference has a unique ...
02 Mar 2016
Executive Director Dr Erica Harper to speak at City Debates Conference in Beirut
From March 2 - 4, Dr Erica Haper will be speaking at the American University of Beiruit's City Debate Series: Urban Policy Mobilities and International Aid; Lessons from Regional Planning and Refugee Policies.
City Debates 2016 stems from a relational and multi-scalar understanding of urban policy a...
05 Jul 2021
The EU reaffirms its commitment to strengthen the relations with Jordan
5 July 2021 - Amman, Jordan - Today, the European Union reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its strategic relationship with Jordan during a country event organised by the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute. The country event aimed to explore more in-depth bilateral dynamics of the New ...
26 Nov 2017
Media Narratives Countering Violent Extremism
On 26 November 2017, the West Asia - North Africa (WANA) Institute gathered 40 international and local experts to discuss the role of media narratives in countering violent extremism (CVE) in Jordan.
The WANA Institute shared its research findings, which analysed examples of radicalisation counter-n...
06 Apr 2016
WANA Institute Awarded NWO Grant for Countering Violent Extremism Project
The WANA Institute is pleased to announce that it will be awarded a significant grant for a research project titled "Towards more effective human security approaches in the context of the emerging threat of violent radicalisation in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia”. The grant will be awarded by the...
06 May 2018
Syrian Refugee Employment Trends in Jordan
A recent publication by the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Institute provides insight into Syrian refugee employment trends in Jordan. Are Syrians employed in their preferred sector? Can the labour market absorb all Syrian workers? And how do Syrian workers feel about a potential return to post-confl...