Hedayah

H.E. Maqsoud Kruse, Chairman of Hedayah’s International Steering Board, and H.E. Ahmed Al Qasimi, Executive Director of Hedayah, welcomed H.E. Dr. Martin Longden CMG OBE, Interim Head of Mission of the United Kingdom to the UAE (UK in UAE), during a visit to Hedayah’s headquarters, where congratulations were exchanged on the recent appointments of H.E. Maqsoud Kruse and H.E. Dr. Martin Longden, while reaffirming a shared commitment to advancing Hedayah’s growth and program development through this longstanding strategic partnership.

During the visit, the delegation toured Hedayah’s offices, met with team members across departments, and received briefings on Hedayah’s global efforts through research and programming supporting prevention, rehabilitation, digital resilience, and counter-extremism efforts across the MENA region and beyond.

The discussions reflected the strong and evolving partnership between Hedayah and the United Kingdom, including collaboration on rehabilitation and reintegration initiatives in Morocco, youth and digital resilience programming in Tunisia through , global knowledge exchange initiatives, and, most recently, support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office for Hedayah’s London event examining the intersection of artificial intelligence, online harms, and extremism.

Hedayah values its continued partnership with the United Kingdom and looks forward to further collaboration in advancing evidence-based and locally driven approaches to preventing and countering extremism and violent extremism.

Hedayah was recently in for the 19th meeting of the Regional Network of National CT-P/CVE Coordinators of the , bringing together national authorities, EU partners, and practitioners to advance coordinated responses to terrorism and violent extremism. This engagement reflects Hedayah’s continued partnership with governments across the region to strengthen prevention frameworks, from national strategies to community-level interventions.

Since 2015, Hedayah has supported initiatives across and the Western Balkans, working alongside institutions and civil society to translate policy into practice. In 2026, this work continues through EU-funded initiatives, including the Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism (STRIVE) Global Program.

In Albania, Hedayah is implementing targeted initiatives with national institutions and civil society, including messaging campaigns that equip religious and community actors to design and deliver their own counter-narrative efforts. These are delivered in partnership with The Center - Albania and the Interreligious Council of Albania to strengthen strategic communication and digital engagement.

Efforts also focus on youth resilience through the “Resilience and Empowerment of Albanian Youth against Digital Hate and Extremism” initiative, implemented with the CVE Center and WIT Albania, supporting awareness and use of the national “Red Button” reporting platform.

In parallel, Hedayah is strengthening Albania’s referral mechanism with ASSIST and the Institute for Activism and Social Change (IANS Albania), revitalizing Local Public Safety Councils and expanding municipal-level support.

In , Hedayah supports the Guardian Shield project with the National Committee for Countering Violent Extremism and Counterterrorism (NCCVECT) and the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), strengthening referral mechanisms to identify and support individuals at risk, including returnees from conflict zones.

Hedayah was pleased to welcome the Ambassador of Ethiopia, H.E Dr. Jemal Beker Abdula for discussions on strengthening cooperation to support efforts to prevent and counter and violent extremism (P/CEVE) in the region.

Since 2014, Hedayah has worked with partners across the African continent, including in , , and supporting national and regional approaches through capacity-building, research, and community-based initiatives. This includes work on Rehabilitation & Reintegration, strengthening resilience among youth and communities, supporting policy development through National Action Plans, and advancing locally led prevention efforts.

Today’s discussions with Ethiopia reflect a growing commitment to deepen collaboration and invest in coordinated, whole-of-society approaches to prevention.

Hedayah looks forward to building on this engagement and strengthening partnerships with Ethiopia in support of more resilient and sustainable P/CEVE efforts across .



Ethiopian Embassy - UAE / AbuDhabi