Netherlands, Switzerland, and GCERF Launch SAFE: A Landmark Initiative to Supporting Safe and Resilient Schools for Children in Tunisia

Netherlands, Switzerland, and GCERF Launch SAFE: A Landmark Initiative to Supporting Safe and Resilient Schools for Children in Tunisia”

Project SAFE — Schools Against Fragile Extremism — will deploy trained mediators and child protection networks across 50 primary schools in Kairouan and Siliana, reaching thousands of the most vulnerable children in Tunisia.

Tunis, 22 June 2026 – The Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Swiss Confederation, and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) today officially launched SAFE: Schools Against Fragile Extremism in Tunisia, a pioneering programme to prevent violent extremism among children aged 6 to 12 by transforming primary schools into safe, supportive, and resilient community hubs.

The launch ceremony was held at the Dutch Residence in Tunis, hosted by the Ambassador of the Netherlands her excellency Josephine Frantzen and attended by Swiss Ambassador Josef Renggli, GCERF Executive Director Khalid Kosor, Tunisian government partners, civil society leaders, and representatives of the diplomatic community.

Addressing Vulnerability Through Prevention and Support

The statistics underpinning SAFE paint a stark picture of childhood vulnerability in Tunisia: an estimated 80% of children aged 10 to 14 experience violent discipline at home; more than 60% are exposed to physical violence; and over 100,000 children drop out of school every year. In governorates like Kairouan and Siliana, these conditions — compounded by poverty, social exclusion, and limited institutional support — can increase children’s vulnerability and limit their sense of safety, belonging and opportunity.

“These are not abstract statistics,” said the Ambassador of the Netherlands. “They represent real children, with real futures, in communities that have faced particular challenges and deserve real investment. What happens in the schoolyards of Kairouan echoes far beyond Tunisia’s borders — shared stability, child protection, education and social cohesion., in the stability of the broader Mediterranean region.”

What SAFE Will Do

Operating across 50 primary schools (30 in Kairouan, 20 in Siliana) from February 2026 to September 2027, SAFE is built on four operational pillars:

• Individual Resilience and Reintegration: Trauma-informed care and personalised Rehabilitation & Reintegration plans for children identified as at risk, alongside psychosocial support for vulnerable family units.

• Institutional Capacity Building:Establishment of “Safe Space” infrastructure in each of the 50 schools, supported by 50 specially trained female-led mediators focused on early detection and sensitive case management.

• Community and Multi-Stakeholder Coordination:300 community dialogue sessions to build social cohesion and reduce stigma, alongside a multidisciplinary Task Force harmonising local and national responses.

• Policy and Standardisation:Development of standardised child-centred referral and rehabilitation protocols, and a high-level study visit to the Western Balkans — where similar GCERF-backed approaches have already proven effective.

Building on Proven Foundations

SAFE is the second phase of Project Madrasaty (“My School”), which ran from April 2024 to January 2026 across 131 schools in the same governorates. Phase One achieved remarkable results: 655 educators trained (170% of target), 6,118 students reached (119% of target), and 11,126 total beneficiaries. A 91.45% student satisfaction rate in school relationships was recorded — a leading indicator of reduced vulnerability to radicalisation. Perhaps most significantly, local government co-financing reached fifteen times the initial project investment, underscoring Tunisian authorities’ own commitment to sustaining prevention beyond any single grant cycle.

“GCERF has become a global reference for what community-rooted prevention of violent extremism can look like,” the Dutch Ambassador noted. “We know from our partnership with GCERF in Balkan region that this approach works. These are not soft measures. They are strategic ones.”

A Shared Challenge, A Shared Investment

SAFE is formally integrated into Tunisia’s national prevention architecture. The National Commission for Counter-Terrorism (CNLCT) and the Ministry of Education are core institutional partners, alongside the Ifrikya Center for Common Ground (ICCG), the Tunisian Scouts, and the National Union of Tunisian Women. The Ministry has committed to co-financing future phases and to scaling the SAFE model to all 24 Tunisian governorates.

“Radicalisation is not a Tunisian problem. It is a shared challenge,” the Netherlands Ambassador stated. “A generation left without support, without belonging, without hope, is a generation more easily recruited. That is not a reason for fear. It is a reason for investment.”

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About the Partners

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is committed to international peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development. The Netherlands has partnered with GCERF in the Western Balkans and is expanding that partnership to Tunisia through the SAFE programme.

The Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) supports evidence-based development programmes worldwide, with a long-standing focus on peace, security, and conflict prevention. Switzerland catalysed the Madrasaty model and continues as a core partner in Phase Two.

The Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) is the world’s leading multilateral fund dedicated to preventing violent extremism at the community level. Operating in more than 25 countries, GCERF brings together governments, civil society, and communities to build lasting resilience.

The Ifrikya Center for Common Ground (ICCG) is the Tunisian civil society organisation leading programme implementation, with deep community roots in Kairouan and Siliana and a proven track record in peace education and community dialogue.

Media Contacts:

Embassy of Switzerland, Tunis – Aziz Béjaoui, Communication Officer aziz.bejaoui@eda.admin.ch

GCERF , Geneva: Sai Aashirvad Konda, s.konda@gcerf.org, media@gcerf.org

(ENDS)