Strong Cities Network is the Institute for Strategic Dialogue United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism

The Strong Cities Network is an independent, global network of 260+ cities dedicated to addressing all forms of hate, extremism and polarisation that can lead to violence. Connecting: Facilitating the sharing of expertise and experiences among local policymakers and practitioners, including through global summits, regional hubs, and city exchanges. Elevating the voices of mayors and other local actors to ensure that their needs and priorities are reflected in national, regional, and international conversations. Delivering: Designing tailored policy and advisory support, training, and analysis with a particular focus on building collaborative, multi-actor teams and, more broadly, local infrastructure for preventing violent extremism, hate and polarisation. Strong Cities programming builds meaningful links between city leaders and local organisations that combine community credibility with decades of local understanding. Building: Through the creation of local coordination bodies that unite city halls, civil society educators, public health bodies, the private sector and faith leaders, Strong Cities harnesses existing and credible institutions, from social services to traditional civic infrastructure, to identify and address community tensions. Informing: Identifying, collecting, and amplifying promising city-led approaches, including through the development and dissemination of good practices documents, on different aspects of city-led efforts.