...breaking barriers, building bridges

Series of progressive interventions have been made both internationally, regionally, and locally, in tandem with the international set standard and best practices within the Policy Framework and National Action Plan adopted by various governments, international organizations, and civil society organizations for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism.

Series of progressive interventions have been made both internationally, regionally and locally, in tandem with the international set standard and best practices within the Policy Framework and National Action Plan adopted by various governments, international organizations and civil society organizations for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism.

For instance, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) had made many interventions with program for the preventing and countering violent extremism. It is established that UNDP has supported and still supporting Prevention of Violent Extremism programming in 21 countries in Africa through whole-of-society approaches. The focus are at Global, Regional and Local levels. At the global level, UNDP focuses on supporting the development of methodologies, tools, and policies, building an action-oriented research agenda and evidence based on the drivers of violent extremism. At the regional level, UNDP supports analysis, transfer of knowledge, capacity building, and the creation of network and platform facilities that enhance regional conflict resolution mechanisms. At the country level, UNDP supports national governments and stakeholders to strengthen institutions and increase community resilience, including by supporting the development of National Action Plans for PVE. Projects are tailored to local needs.

In response to the growing threat of terrorism in Africa, UNDP aims to strengthen development responses and mitigate the growth of violent extremism, focusing on long-term change at the structural level.

There are different projects embark upon by UNDP in Africa both at regional and national levels, in order to provide technical and financial support for preventing and countering violent extremism

The interventions are clustered into three(3) categories:

We have Epicenter Countries such as Libya, Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia.
We also have Spill - Over Countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Niger and Tunisia.

And we have At - Risk Countries such as Benin, Central African Republic, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda.

The interventions run through Preventing Violent Extremism Strategies. These PVE Strategies contributed technical and financial support to the process of developing national strategies and Plans of action for the Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Examples are the following National interventions:

  • Established Human Rights “Observatory” in the North of Cameroon to deepen the understanding about Human Rights Violations.
  • Supported Civil Military Community dialogues in Chadian Island communities.
  •  Provided capacity building to 125  religious leaders associated with the Kenyan Defense Forces on the effects of their interactions on youth radicalization.

On the regional level, the PVE Strategies supported effective regional coordination and joint planning, resulting in the development of the Lake Chad Basin Commissions Regional Stabilization Strategy. This development also led to the launching of Intergovernmental Authority on Developments,(IGADs) Regional Strategy for PCVE.

The project is a joint initiative between UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa and Regional Hub in AMMAN.

For the international level, the project is delivered through the United Nations Counter Terrorism Centre(UNCCT) within the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT).

The geographical reach of the program are the following: CARRIBEAN, EUROPE, AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, CENTRAL ASIA, SOUTH ASIA, SOUTH EAST ASIA AND OCEANIA.

The Global program on PCVE has delivered three key initiatives with young people. They are:

The Youth Engagement and Empowerment Project (YEEP)  in Southeast Asia, ( 2002) and East Africa (2023) which supports young people to become leaders in PCVE policy making.

Empowering Dialogue and Interfaith Networks (EDIN), (2021) which supports young religious leaders and young media makers across the globe to develop media campaign championing religious harmony.

Young Leaders for Online PCVE (2023) which supports young people in Southeast Asia to develop online PCVE strategic communication initiatives