Evaluating P/CVE: Institutional Structures in International Comparison

P/CVE, Germany, Institutional Structures, Evaluation, Impact Assessment

Preventing and countering violent extremism (P/​CVE) is an emerging field with a wealth of valuable experience but without proven recipes for success. Evaluation – the systematic and objective assessment of ongoing or completed activities – helps P/​CVE actors to learn from this experience in ways that are immediately useful for current and future projects, which complements the equally pressing need for applied research. The relative youth of the P/​CVE field and its intervention approaches makes evaluation particularly important to help funders invest effectively and avoid adverse effects. A key part of making evaluations as useful as possible is to develop effective institutional structures that shape who influences how evaluations are targeted, commissioned, funded, and conducted, and to what extent their results are used to inform future action. As part of the PrEval project, this study surveys international examples of evaluation structures to inform German P/​CVE policy.