Countering Violent Extremism in the Horn of Africa: How international interventions influence the Security of Civilians

CVE, Civil Society, Kenya, Somalia, International Interventions

Most of the CVE engagements in the Horn of Africa are funded by external actors. Both Kenya and Somalia’s CVE engagements denote the hard-power approach. However, actors in CVE in Kenya are mostly the civil society which is facing an antagonistic relationship with the government, but the Somalia case demonstrates a collaboration of external actors and government. Despite the countering measures and deradicalization programs, CVE engagements in the Horn of Africa are in their infancy. In understanding concepts such as CT and CVE, the article heavily relies on qualitative approaches. Explaining security requires an informed grasp of the localness – how the locals feel and interpret security. Therefore, the paper relies on interviews done between the years 2015 to 2020 from various projects initiatives such as evaluating the Norwegian embassy project in Kenya and Somalia in 2015, the European Union (EU) horizon 2020 project on ICT4COP1 2015 to 2020, and a CVE mapping project for the Search for Common Ground in 2019