The overall objective of the EU-Trust Fund Programme is to increase peace, stability and inclusive economic opportunities for youth and marginalised areas of Kenya. STRIVE II project seeks to contribute towards this objectiveby focusing on reducing radicalisation, recruitment and support for violent extremism (VE) by addressing: 

• Structural Factors: Political, economic, historical, religious, and institutional systems and narratives that contribute to radicalisation and support for VE.
• Group Based Dynamics: Peer pressure, values, identities and norms of groups that contribute and encourage recruitment, radicalisation and support for VE.
• Enabling Factors: Events, networks, platforms (both online and physical) that contribute to radicalisation.
• Individual Incentives: Such as a sense of purpose, adventure, belonging, feelings of isolation, lack of control and the idea of rewards in the afterlife that all contribute to recruitment, radicalisation and support for VE.

 Anticipated Results: 

Three main outcomes of STRIVE II are anticipated:

• Enhanced understanding of the causes of conflict and a stronger evidence base of structural factors contributing to radicalisation and support of VE in Kenya.
• Improved response by law enforcement (LE) officers to VE in areas affected by terrorism and recruitment to VE groups.
• Reduction of radicalisation and recruitment to radical groups in Kenya.

 Activities: There are four components to STRIVE II: 

• Research – The research component will contribute towards improving CVE programming and enhancing understanding of the relationship between underlying conflicts/dynamics and recruitment patterns. Research will therefore look at clan conflicts in the North East region, land conflicts on Kenya’s Coast, the relationship between violent extremism and urban crime, and the role of women in both preventing and contributing to extremist activities.
• Law Enforcement officer CVE training – In support of Kenya’s National Strategy on CVE, senior and mid-level law enforcement managers from a range of agencies, and working in high risk areas will be trained in factors contributing to VE, the impact of extremist activities and strategies for preventing and responding to VE. Training will be compatible with international law and human rights standards. The training will be conducted using online and face-to-face modules to increase participation.
• Youth mentorship and referral system - The mentorship and women stakeholder referral system aims to reduce the readiness of at-risk youths to engage in political and ideological violence by referring these individuals for 12 months of mentorship. The project will attempt to achieve this objective by both increasing the stakeholders’ understanding of radicalisation and drivers of violent extremism, and improve the ability of mentors to identify and effectively engage with at-risk individuals. It will also aim to enhance the network of stakeholders and mentors actively contributing towards CVE within their communities.
• Preventive communications – Communications will focus on three areas: informing and influencing CVE policy and practice in Kenya and around the world; strengthening the voice of youth in the Kenyan media, reflecting the mentorship approach to critical-thinking and directed debate; and enhancing law enforcement agencies’ communication.

Total Cost (EUR): 3 000 000

EU contracted amount (EUR): 3 000 000

Duration: October 2016 - September 2019

Implementing organisation: Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies - RUSI

Funding Instrument: EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa

Benefitting zone: Kenya

Story: Increased stability and inclusive economic opportunities for youth in Kenya

"What we offer, it’s like psychological first aid. We have youth at risk who come one year later and say, I decided to change and I’ve decided to do something with my life. When we think about the few who managed to really pick up the pieces and change their life, it’s really something beautiful."

Greg Schira, Project Manager at RUSI.

CONTEXT

Amidst an ongoing threat of attacks by violent extremist groups in Kenya, a network of young people are supporting youths at risk of being recruited by radical violent groups and criminal gangs in marginalised, urban areas of the country. The project, funded by the EU Trust Fund for Africa, also includes research, law enforcement training and preventive communications strands. It links up with a wider effort by the Kenyan government, NGOs and development partners to understand and address the root causes of violent extremism among the country’s young population.

OBJECTIVES

• Enhanced understanding of the causes of conflict and a stronger evidence base of structural factors contributing to radicalisation and support of violent extremism (VE) in Kenya.
• Improved response by law enforcement (LE) officers to VE in areas affected by terrorism and recruitment to VE groups.
• Reduction of radicalisation and recruitment to radical groups in Kenya.

RESULTS

• A network of 42 mentors and 192 “at-risk” youth is operating 6 in areas of Nairobi and Mombasa.
• System of mentor training, regular group meetings and referral network supports the mentorship programme.
• CVE training curriculum is under development in partnership with and owned by Kenya’s NCTC, National Counter-Terrorism Centre. Multi-level training seeks to improve law enforcement’s response to violent extremism by leadership, middle manager and frontline officers.
• Locally-partnered research on the links between the role of women, existing causes of conflict in the North East, urban crime and violent extremism is underway.
• More than 50 short films made by youth, using their smart phones, communicate their stories about CVE-relevant experiences, values and meaning.
• Local radio training seeks to increase conflict sensitive journalism skills and broadcast content to better cover the drivers of violent extremism.

TESTIMONY

Kenyan youth volunteer in life mentorship networks to counter violent extremism

Kamilo Mohamed is one of the volunteers from Eastleigh, a neighbourhood in Nairobi home to thousands of Somalis who escaped war and poverty, and which has become a thriving commercial hub drawing goods from across Africa, Asia and Europe. However, its high population of young people, many of whom struggle to find employment, makes Eastleigh a target area for violent extremism recruiters.

"Local mentors are best placed for this kind of work, as it’s easier for them to identify who is vulnerable – who is being targeted, who is known in the local community to have associations with criminal gangs, people with radical views," said Kamilo.

"I come from the same areas as the mentees, so I know the challenges they face," said Kamilo. "What makes me different is I’m doing something for my life, therefore I’m not as vulnerable as they are." Not only does she offer advice and a listening ear, Kamilo also acts as a role model for young people to follow, representing an alternative path.

Following research, RUSI has identified three categories of factors that usually work in combination to enable the recruitment of small numbers of people by extremist groups. There are structural motivators, such as high levels of youth unemployment, political , economic and social exclusion, proximity to violence or criminality, dysfunctional families and poverty; individual incentives, which include seeking a sense of purpose, status and belonging; and enabling factors: online and community networks linked to violent extremism, as well as peer pressure.

In Kamilo’s words, the young people they are supporting "have low self-esteem, they don’t have critical thinking, they can’t make decisions on their own. They are unemployed - which makes them good targets for violent radicals. Most of them come from a low background or ghetto, they use drugs, they’re involved in criminal activities."

The mentors try to counteract the ‘pull factors’ towards violent extremism through mutual support groups and weekly one-to-one meetings. There are group discussions on topics such as self-esteem and self-actualisation, with up to 40 participants. The mentees mostly range from 18 to 24 years old, the majority (around 70%) of whom are male.

Kamilo is one of seven volunteers working in Eastleigh, while another team focuses on nearby Majengo – both neighbourhoods about 10 km from Nairobi’s Westgate mall. The project also supports other volunteers to mentor young people in four districts in Mombasa, Kenya’s second-largest city. "Each area has seven mentors and five mentees each, so there are around 200 in the programme," said Kamilo.

The hardest part is building trust, according to Kamilo. "It is a process. I am not going to open up to anybody, I’m not going to share my soul with strangers. It takes some time. We share our ideas, our problems - I share my experiences, I empathize with them, so we can be on the same page. We become friends, we talk of more common things, what’s new in the hood…"

Often, the challenge for mentors is knowing whether their message is sinking in, amid so many other influences. "You can have a mentee in a session, talking and sharing, but you know at the end of the day you have to go back home, you have to separate. You know [extremist recruiters] still approach those people in the hood, maybe monitoring their movement in the area."

LEARN MORE

• STRIVE

• Photo album

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Mentees range from 18 to 24 years old

• Project duration: Oct. 2016 - Sept. 2019