The British Humanist Association (BHA) has today commented on a report released by parliament’s Communities and Local Government Select Committee which discusses the role of community cohesion in the government’s work to tackle violent extremism. The report makes several recommendations on how to improve work under the Prevent aspect of the Preventing Violent Extremism project.
BHA Campaigns Officer Pepper Harow said, ‘The report is damning of the government’s apparent waste of funding on preventing extremism and suggests that much of the funding has gone to organisations and projects which have made little impact on preventing violent extremism and may even be damaging social cohesion.
‘We echo the Committee’s call for a positive stance on community cohesion which is based on tackling disadvantage and exclusion, as opposed to being targeted at a single social, cultural or religious group and believe that this can be done in an inclusive way based on the principles of equality and human rights. We also agree that such work should be done on a thematic basis and not on a mono-cultural or ‘individual community’ basis, meaning that all people, regardless of religion or belief, can be empowered to act on issues of shared concern.
‘However, we continue to have concerns about the government’s wider community cohesion programme which includes a huge amount of funding and support for ‘interfaith’ work which expressly excludes non-religious people. Only when all voices are heard within local communities, can strong and resilient communities result.’
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Read more about the BHA’s work on Government and Faith Communities.
Read more about the BHA’s work on ‘interfaith’ and community cohesion.
For further comment or information, please contact Pepper Harow on 020 7462 4992.
The British Humanist Association (BHA) is the national charity representing the interests of the large and growing population of ethically concerned, non-religious people living in the UK.