Preventing extremism in West and Central Africa

This report by the Institute for Security Studies examines the design, implementation, and evaluation of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) projects across six countries in West and Central Africa. Based on data from 133 projects, it identifies a significant gap between global policy and local practice, noting that while there is high investment in community-based initiatives, there is a critical lack of evidence-based evaluation and a failure to address the broader structural drivers of extremism.

• The most common objective across all studied countries was the promotion of multiculturalism and tolerance of religious, ethnic, and other differences, cited by 43 respondents.
• Youth are the primary target group for P/CVE projects due to their perceived vulnerability to manipulation and economic incentives from extremist groups, with activities focusing on vocational training, education, and counter-narratives.
• Monitoring and evaluation is identified as the weakest component of the reviewed projects; only 62% of participating organisations (42 out of 67) had conducted or planned evaluations, and 17 of those were conducted internally.
• There is a disconnect between how external actors define security threats and how they are experienced locally, with local communities often prioritising structural issues like economics, justice, and education over a narrow P/CVE lens.
• Radio and social media, particularly WhatsApp and Facebook, have emerged as critical tools for extending the reach of P/CVE messaging, promoting dialogue, and supporting victims.
• Funding is the most significant challenge for project implementation, affecting 28 of the reviewed projects. Many projects operate on short-term funding cycles of one year or less.
• While women are frequently included as beneficiaries, particularly in vocational training, few P/CVE projects are specifically driven or designed by women.
• The report argues that community-based projects alone cannot address the structural drivers of violent extremism unless they are expanded in scale and integrated with government efforts in governance, justice, and development.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Preventing extremism in West and Central Africa. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war-23.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Preventing extremism in West and Central Africa. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war-23.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Preventing extremism in West and Central Africa |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war-23.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndpreventing, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Preventing extremism in West and Central Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/war-23.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }