Ihtisham Toru
A regional seminar in Peshawar on Tuesday stressed the need for gender-responsive, community-led early warning systems to prevent violent extremism.
Organised by PAIMAN Alumni Trust, the event was attended by lawmakers, officials, academics, religious scholars, youth and civil society members.
PAIMAN Chairperson Shafqat Mehmood introduced the Gender-Responsive Early Warning and Response System (GREWER), piloted in Charsadda, Mohmand and Khyber. He said the model enables communities to act as first responders through referral mechanisms and coordination with state institutions. He also launched Shrang, a mobile app to help field teams respond to extremism and natural disasters.
Additional Inspector General of Police KP, Muhammad Ali Babakhel, noted that early warning is missing from police training and pledged to share PAIMAN’s guidelines with security agencies. He said allocating even a fraction of counter-terrorism funds to prevention could strengthen resilience.
Religious scholar Dr. Qibla Ayaz cited Islamic history in support of such systems, while MPA Fazal Elahi urged stronger government–community collaboration. Kashif Khan of the KP Centre for Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism said community development reduces radicalization risks.
Concluding the session, PAIMAN Executive Director Mossarat Qadeem called for institutionalising GREWER through partnerships between civil society and state institutions.
