Search for Common Ground (SFCG) has been working for 35 years to transform the way
communities deal with conflicts. SFCG promotes cooperative solutions to conflicts based on
mutual understanding and confidence-building between stakeholders. SFCG operates in 36
countries using creative, multi-faceted approaches to help divided communities understand
differences while working toward commonalities. Working with a wide range of local
stakeholders, SFCG has been operating in Tunisia to “help members of Tunisian society
approach conflicts and differences in a constructive manner, through cooperation and
dialogue”. SFCG Tunisia, aims to promote a culture of dialogue, build social cohesion and
provide youth, women and media with the needed skills to move towards peaceful
coexistence.

Since 2012, when Tunisia experienced the very first terrorist attacks, there has been an
increasing concern about violent extremism in Tunisia, both at a decision-making level and
among civil society organizations (CSOs). Thousands of Tunisians have joined armed conflict
areas in Iraq and Syria fighting in the ranks of terrorist groups. Tunisians’ attraction to the
rhetoric of violent extremism (VE) and their joining of violent extremist groups remains
influenced by various local and regional factors. However, more research and analysis are
required to understand the push and pull factors that lead to radicalization especially among
youth and to pave the way for a well-informed and organized response that may effectively
counter violent extremism.

In this context and based on its extensive experience on peacebuilding approaches to
countering and preventing violent extremism (CVE), SFCG launched the Bottom-up
Approach to Countering Violent Extremism which aims to “increase the ability of vulnerable
communities to prevent and counter violent extremism in Tunisia”. By addressing the CVE
issue at the local level, the project aims to increase the engagement of diverse stakeholders
and produce knowledge of the factors that drive Tunisians to support violent extremist
propaganda or groups. By turning this knowledge into concrete community-based activities,
the project seeks to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders in dealing with and preventing
VE.