Voice of a Practitioner in Nigeria – Fatima Akilu

In this session, Shannon N. Green interviews Dr. Fatima Akilu, Executive Director of the NEEM Foundation, psychologist, and partner of the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL). Fatima discusses her role as the founder of the Nigerian government’s deradicalization program for former members of Boko Haram, the importance of psychological and social programming to provide youth with positive alternatives to violent extremism, and the nexus of development and security at the community level. Her unique perspective as a psychologist – and as a woman in a field dominated by men – provides deeper insight into the future of countering violent extremism.