Fighting Extremism: Hafsat Mohammed and Gulalai Ismail

Hafsat Mohammed is a Nigerian peace activist who survived a Boko Haram attack on a bus and works to combat violent extremism in the country by engaging young people at the grassroots level. She brings Christian and Muslim communities together to find ways to stop young people joining radical groups. Hafsat says when she was growing up this was a peaceful part of the world and it makes her sad that there is so much hate and violence there now, so she's made it her mission to stop it, despite threats made against her.

Gulalai Ismail remembers being young and seeing graffiti chalked on the walls of her home town Peshawar, in north-west Pakistan, calling for young men to join violent extremist groups. As a teenager Gulalai started campaigning for the rights of women and today has broadened her activism out to include anti-radicalisation programmes, and projects dealing with HIV/AIDS education and safe abortion. Gulalai, who has won many awards, has been threatened because of the work she does and had to flee her home after an attack a few years ago.

(Image: Hafsat Mohammed on the Left, Gulalai Ismail on the Right)