Despite the recent weakening of violent extremist groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram, these threats continue to be a pressing global issue. In the development sector, countering violent extremism (CVE) and preventing violent extremism (PVE) are increasingly high priorities for government agencies and donors. As USAID, the State Department, and others grapple…
Violent extremism is a pressing global issue that threatens economic growth, youth employment, and geopolitical stability. In the global development community, countering violent extremism and preventing violent extremism continue to be high priorities. Good governance is widely accepted as being key to both, but what does this mean in practice? This question was the focus…
Chemonics’ staff submitted 38 contest entries from around the world, focusing on the use of technology to enhance existing projects’ results as well as identifying promising potential technology applications that have not yet been fully tested. Winners were chosen in two categories, through a combination of staff judges and votes cast by more than 600…
Bridget Burke is a director with more than 13 years of experience in conflict, disaster, and post-conflict transitional settings. Bridget works part-time at Chemonics, and part-time as a practicing psychotherapist and consultant on staff care, leadership, and stress/resilience. Bridget is trained in trauma response and applies a unique focus on trauma and mental health to…
Todd Diamond is a governance specialist and conflict analyst with more than 25 years of experience designing and implementing international donor projects. Working on behalf of various U.K. and U.S. government agencies, his experience includes assessing conditions that give rise to non-state actors and helping to build the capacity of civil society and the legitimacy…
Michele Piercey is an international development practitioner with 17 years of experience, 11 of which have been in the field. She has managed conflict mitigation projects across the world, as the leader of stabilization and political transition programs in Afghanistan and Tunisia, and most recently, as chief of party for the USAID/OTI-funded Iraq Regional Program. …
Rhett Gurian is currently the chief of party of the USAID Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP). He previously served as the senior vice president of Chemonics’ West and Central Africa and Haiti region and the chief of party for the USAID Syria Essential Services (SES) project based out of Jordan. Also, as chief of party,…
Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the Sadaqa project worked in partnership with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs (MoIA) to promote peace and tolerance in Mauritania by strengthening and spreading key capacities required for countering violent extremism. This pilot activity partnered with MoIA to develop a strategy and approaches for propagating MOIA’s earlier successful…
3 Questions with Michele Piercey: Conflict and Exclusion as the Front Door for Extremist Recruitment
In February, a famine was declared in South Sudan. And in 2016, the media frequently linked the conflict in Syria to the country’s extreme drought. What do we know about the complex relationship between climate change and conflict, particularly resource-based conflicts? Climate change affects communities in a way that makes them chaotic and difficult to…
Earlier this year in Mombasa, a youth activist told me he knew plenty of young men who joined Al Shabaab. Many had participated in livelihoods and vocational training activities funded by NGOs. Some even found jobs. Nonetheless, they decided to join the notorious violent extremist organization. This was not the first time that I had…
A growing body of evidence shows that empowering adolescent girls to become future leaders in their communities is key to achieving global development goals, ensuring the sustainability of development interventions, and making a significant social impact. It is only by supporting, educating, and empowering adolescent girls that we can unlock their full potential to transform the…
This post originally appeared on Devex People think and say all sorts of things that they would never actually do. One of the biggest challenges in countering violent extremism is not only figuring out which people hold radical views, but who is most likely to join and act on behalf of violent extremist organizations. Determining…