“We can’t go work in the field anymore,” explained Maminata Dagnogo, the head of the women’s association of the village of Kafolo, in northern Côte d’Ivoire.

Following a series of violent attacks in the area in 2020 and 2021, Ms. Dagnogo and the other women in her village stopped cultivating, fishing and herding in most of the district. Venturing far from the village had become too dangerous.

In partnership with the Governments of Australia, Denmark, Germany and Norway, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has initiated a region-wide initiative, the Atlantic Corridor project, to help communities build resilience, strengthen governmental services and prevent the spread of extremist groups across Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.

UNDP works to anticipate and prevent the spread of violent extremist narratives and groups across 41 countries. UNDP’s efforts address the root causes of violent extremism such as the lack of opportunities, poor access to social services, exclusion and marginalization as well as hate speech.

UNDP’s interventions allow people like Ms. Dagnogo, whose lives have been disrupted by violent extremism, to rebuild their lives and earn an income. UNDP is also implementing a coherent set of initiatives to address divisions in communities, as they create a fertile ground for violent extremist groups.

In some contexts, climate change can also fuel the grievances that lead individuals to join violent extremist groups. In the Lake Chad basin, a United Nations survey found that climate change-related difficulties can be a key driver for violent extremist involvement. Today, more research is needed to better understand the link between climate change and violent extremism.

Violent extremism also remains a significant concern in Central Asia. UNDP’s work in the region aims at addressing the lack of opportunities, power imbalances and marginalization that helped violent extremist narratives to take root in the region.