TIRANA, ALBANIA     USAID Supervisory Program Officer Erin Mone-Marquez participated in a panel discussion at the Western Balkans Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Regional Conference on “Countering Violent Extremism Together: Partnering for Success.”  Mrs. Mone-Marquez emphasized the role of gender in preventing violent extremism, highlighting women’s frequently overlooked capacity as peacebuilders and actors with untapped agency.  Her message emphasized the need for women to be at the table participating at every level of engagement from mothers to politicians in order to make deliberate inroads.

“The conference was the first consultation held outside Jordan as part of the Aqaba Meetings, launched by Jordan's King Abdullah II in 2015. The king, who is dealing with large protests in Jordan, was expected at the meeting but was replaced by Prince Ghazi Bin Mohammad. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his counterpart from Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, joined the 200 political, security, religious, and academic leaders at the conference. Themes included security challenges, how to enhance military coordination and cooperation, and the exchange of experiences and intelligence to combat terrorism.” [Source: AP]