Journey of young Africans into violent extremism marked by poverty and deprivation: UNDP

Based on hundreds of interviews with extremists, first-of-its-kind study pinpoints key factors triggering decisions to join violent extremist groups in Africa

 

 

 

 

 Deprivation and marginalization, underpinned by weak governance, are primary forces driving young Africans into violent extremism, according to a comprehensive new study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP

Based on interviews with 495 voluntary recruits to extremist organizations such as Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, the new study also found that it is often perceived state violence or abuse of power that provides the final tipping point for the decision to join an extremist group.

Journey to Extremism in Africa: Drivers, Incentives and the 

 Tipping Point for Recruitment presents the results of a two-year UNDP Africa

study on recruitment in the most prominent extremist groups in Africa.

The study reveals a picture of a frustrated individual, marginalized

 and neglected over the course of his life, starting in childhood. 

 With few economic prospects or outlets for meaningful civic participation

 that can bring about change, and little trust in the state

to either provide services or respect human rights, the study

 suggests, such an individual could, upon witnessing or

experiencing perceived abuse of power by the state, be tipped over

 the edge into extremism.

“This study sounds the alarm that as a region, Africa’s vulnerability

 to violent extremism is 

deepening,” said UNDP Africa Director Abdoulaye Mar Dieye 

at the launch  at the United

Nations headquarters. “Borderlands and peripheral areas

 remain isolated and under-served.

Institutional capacity in critical areas is struggling to keep pace with 

demand. More than half the population lives below the poverty line,

 including many chronically underemployed youth.” 

“Delivering services, strengthening institutions, creating pathways 

to economic empowerment–these are 

development issues,” Mr. Dieye added.

 “There is an urgent need to bring a stronger development focus 

to security challenges.”The study distills the conditions and factors that shape 

 the dynamics of the recruitment process,prompting some individuals to

 gravitate toward extremism, where the vast majority of others do not.

 

ELEMENTS OF A JOURNEY

Participants in the study were asked about their family circumstances,

 including childhood and education; religious ideologies; economic factors; 

state and citizenship; and finally, the ‘tipping point’ to joining a group.

Based on the responses to those questions, the study has determined that:e majority ofrecruits come from borderlands or peripheral areas that have suffered generations of 

 marginalization and report having had less parental involvement growing up.

Most recruits express frustration at their economic conditions, with employment the most acute need at the time of joining a group. 

Recruits also indicate an

acute sense of grievance towards government: 83 percent believe that government looks after only the interests of a few, and over 75 percent place no trust in politicians or in the state security apparatus.Recruitment in Africa occurs mostly at the local, person-to-person level,

rather than online, as is the case in other regions–a factor that may alter the forms and patterns of recruitment as connectivity improves.

Some 80 percent of recruits interviewed joined within a year of introduction to  the violent extremist group–and nearly half of these joined within just one month.

In terms of exiting a violent extremist group, most interviewees who

surrendered or sought amnesty did so after losing confidence in the ideology, leadership or actions of their group. 

 

GOVERNMENT ACTION AS THE TIPPING POINT

In one of the study’s most striking findings, 71 percent of recruits interviewed said that it was some form of government action that was the ‘tipping point’ that triggered their final decision to join an extremist group.

The actions most often cited were government action including killing or arrest of a family member or friend. 

 

RELIGIOUS AND SECULAR EDUCATION AS RESILIENCE 

 

The study also sheds further light on the nuanced role of religion as a motive for extremism.

The data shows that contrary to popular narratives, those who join extremist groups tend to have

lower levels of religious or formal education

and less understanding of the meaning of religious

texts.

Although more than half of respondents cited religion as a reason for joining an extremist group,

57 percent of respondents also admitted to understanding little to nothing of the religious texts or interpretations, or not reading religious texts at all.

Indeed, the study suggests that actually understanding one’s religion can strengthen resilience to the pull of extremism: among those interviewed, receiving at least six years of religious schooling was shown to reduce the likelihood of joining an extremist group by as much as 32 percent.

 

HUMAN RIGHTS, RULE OF LAW, LOCAL INTERVENTION

 

The study calls on governments to reassess militarized responses to extremism in the light   of respect for the rule of law and human rights commitments.

Among the study’s key recommendations is intervention at the local level, including through

support to community-led initiatives aimed at social cohesion, and amplifying the voices of local religious leaders who advocate tolerance and cohesiveness.

However, the study cautions that these initiatives must be spearheaded by trusted local actors.

“What we know for sure is that in the African context, the counter-extremist messenger is as

important as the counter-extremist message,” said Mr. Dieye. 

“That trusted local voice is also essential to reducing the sense of marginalization that can increase vulnerability to recruitment.”

 

      SURVIVORS BOOK

To underscore awareness of the human cost of violent extremism, a new book

and photo exhibit

have been produced to accompany the study, a reminder of the devastating final consequences of the journey to extremism.

Survivors: Stories of survivors of violent extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa features photographs and stories documented in 2016 across six African countries that have been directly affected by violent extremism–Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda.

UNDP estimates that some 33,300 people in Africa have lost their lives to violent extremist attacks between 2011 and early 2016

.

Boko Haram’s operations alone have resulted in the deaths of at least 17,000 people and contributed to the displacement of a further 2.8 million people in the Lake Chad region.

Violent extremist attacks have also impacted tourism and foreign direct investment in countries such as Kenya and Nigeria.