ISLAMABAD: The National Count­e­­r­terrorism Authority (Nacta) has come up with the first-ever National Cou­nter Violent Extremism Policy of Pak­istan (NCVEP 2021) as its draft was submitted to the interior minister on Tuesday.

Nacta’s national coordinator Mehr Khaliq Dad Lak presented the draft policy to Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for approval.

Before finalising the draft, Nacta said it held provincial consultations with representatives of various segments of society, including academics, journalists, experts and members of civil society, in the past three months.

More than 250 relevant contacts and stakeholders from federal and provincial governments were approached for their contribution and input to the policy. This was in addition to three months of hard work by researchers and experts presently serving in Nacta who worked on the draft.

Draft policy submitted to interior minister for approval

Nacta had in August helped revise the National Action Plan (NAP) after consultation with stakeholders. As per revised NAP, Nacta was then given the responsibility to formulate a policy to counter violent extremism. The counterterrorism authority finally completed this task and submitted the draft policy to the interior minister for approval.

The draft NCEVP 21 comprises two parts: The first part is the NCVEP 2021 itself while the second part is the national implementation and institutionalisation plan of the policy that clearly mentions the roles and responsibilities of various implementers and their supporting stakeholders along with key performance indicators under policy targets.

Nacta believes the draft NCVEP 2021 is a major national policy document that would keep on evolving and improving with the passage of time.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2021