Strengthening Resilience against Violent Extremism

Strengthening Resilience against Violent Extremism (STRIVE II) is contributing towards increasing peace, stability and inclusive economic opportunities for youth and marginalised areas of Kenya by undertaking research and activities to reduce radicalisation and recruitment:

• Research – The research component has contributed towards improving CVE programming through monitoring and evaluating impact, and enhancing understanding of the relationship between underlying conflict dynamics and recruitment patterns.

• Law Enforcement Training – In support of Kenya’s National Strategy on CVE, senior and mid-level law enforcement managers from a range of agencies who are deployed in high-risk areas have been trained in CVE.

• Youth Mentorship - The mentorship and women stakeholder referral system is seeking to reduce the readiness of at-risk youths to engage in political and ideological violence by referring these individuals for mentorship.

• Preventive Communications – Communications interventions seek to support the mentorship programme by strengthening the voice of the youth, and strengthening media capacity to report on conflict.

As a result of this work the STRIVE team published a lessons learned report, which describes the activities undertaken and results achieved. Towards the end of the programme an independent team of evaluators published a report assessing the impact of the programme.

During an earlier phase of the programme, called STRIVE Horn of Africa, a variety of pilot interventions were trialled and tested in Somaliland and Kenya. Read about the lessons learned here.

STRIVE II has been led from the RUSI Nairobi office.

Follow RUSI Horn of Africa on Twitter

Project Team

Component Strands

1. Research, Monitoring and Evaluation
   Strengthening the evidence base led to the publication of a research compendium looking at the link between gender and violent extremism, and a report from the launch event. Another research project and publication examined the nexus between crime and violent extremism in Kenya. A paper discussed tools to be used in evaluating youth mentorship programmes and the results of that strand of the programme.

2. Law Enforcement Training
   Training of frontline, mid-level and senior officials from a number of Kenyan law enforcement and security agencies was undertaken. A syllabus was designed jointly with the Kenyan National Counter Terrorism Centre and training took place in nine counties.

3. Youth Mentorship
   Supporting young people to prevent them being recruited into violent extremist organisations in Kenya. Implemention led to a lessons learned conference, drawing practitioners from East Africa, North America and Europe, resulting in a report. Following four years of experience the programme published a mentorship manual for use in establishing and running youth mentorship networks.

4. Preventive Communication
   Analysis of how terrorist organisations in east Africa use marketing methods to build their reputation and support base. An exploration of how STRIVE has used innovative media and communication practices led to a paper discussing emerging lessons.

Source: https://rusi.org/projects/strengthening-resilience-against-violent-extremism