Strengthening Community Capacity and Government Coordination in Preventing Radicalization and Terrorist Recruitment

This program aims to reduce radicalization and terrorist recruitment by improving collaboration, trust, and reporting mechanisms between citizens and civilian government representatives in at-risk focus areas of Lamu and Garissa County. The proposed program will build the capacity of credible community leaders in these focus areas to identify signs of radicalization, intervene appropriately when possible, and collaborate with government officials in carrying out locally relevant solutions. By focusing on building the skills of influential community leaders, the program will enable local actors best positioned to address violent extremism in this highly sensitive environment. By also including government representatives (including law enforcement officials) in this program, it will aim to rebuild and strengthen trust in order to facilitate citizen-government collaboration and information sharing in addressing violent extremism. Female stakeholders are a critical component of this program proposal, in recognition that mothers, sisters and other influential women are sometimes the only individuals who can reach certain at-risk youth.