Preventing violent extremism: lessons from Africa

This report by the Institute for Security Studies analyzes projects aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in Central, East, and West Africa. It identifies critical gaps in funding duration, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity, and the potential for P/CVE labeling to stigmatize target communities, while suggesting a shift toward longer-term funding and greater African state ownership.

• The most common activities implemented by African P/CVE organisations are education, training, and capacity building, followed by peacebuilding and violence prevention.
• P/CVE projects in Central, East, and West Africa are primarily funded by the European Union and individual European states, with a significant majority of these projects receiving funding for 12 months or less.
• The most prevalent theory of change among P/CVE projects is that increasing awareness of violent extremism and its drivers will enable government agencies and communities to contribute to prevention efforts.
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) for P/CVE projects often rely on informal 'observations' rather than formal plans, with East African projects showing higher rates of M&E plan implementation (61 projects) compared to West and Central Africa (22 projects).
• Local practitioners often avoid labeling their work as 'P/CVE' to prevent negative attention from governments or extremist groups and to avoid further marginalizing specific religious or ethnic groups.
• P/CVE initiatives can cause unintended harm by informally labeling target groups—often marginalized Muslim communities—as 'vulnerable,' which may lead to stigmatization and human rights abuses by security forces.
• A significant gap exists in P/CVE theories of change, as they generally fail to address the ideological reasons why individuals voluntarily join violent extremist groups.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Preventing violent extremism: lessons from Africa. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar17.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Preventing violent extremism: lessons from Africa. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar17.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Preventing violent extremism: lessons from Africa |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar17.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndpreventing, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Preventing violent extremism: lessons from Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ar17.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }