Join this event hosted by USIP, A Holistic Approach to Preventing Violent Extremism, featuring AfP’s Deputy Director of Policy & Advocacy Megan Corrado!

Violent extremism can reflect any number of fragile state-society relationships, from perceptions of social exclusion and marginalization to political grievances, polarization and a lack of political accountability and social trust. But engaging in violent extremism is still an individual choice. And while there is no psychological pathology associated with violent extremists, behavioral challenges such as trauma often play a role in why individuals choose violence — as does the influence of those closest to them. Preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) therefore requires a multidisciplinary strategy that addresses of the dynamics that contribute to it within individuals, communities and political and economic structures.

Mercy Corps’ Collective Resilience Against Extremism (CREATE) program — operating in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda — seeks to prevent violent extremism through piloting innovative approaches for building resilience among high-risk individuals while facilitating effective prevention approaches among civil society and government actors. An evaluation of its first cohort of participants in Kenya reveals promising results, including a 22 percent reduction in support for violence. These individual-oriented activities sit within a broader program strategy of influencing national and local policy and tackling the systemic drivers of violent extremism in the region.