• The 18-month programme supported by UN-Women and Japan Embassy in Kenya will culminate into the launch of an action plan.
• It seeks the inclusion of women in peace, security and humanitarian process, as well as build resilience of w
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Womankind Kenya has embarked on an ambitious programme to strengthen the participation of women in peace and security in Garissa County.
The 18-month programme supported by UN-Women and Japan Embassy in Kenya will culminate into the launch of an action plIt seeks the inclusion of women in peace, security and humanitarian process, as well as build resilience of women from host and refugee camps through economic activities.
According to program officer Rahma Ahmed, the project targets mainly women and youth in Dadaab refugee camp and the host communities, Garissa county government, national government security agencies (the Kenya Police and Administration Police) and CSO women networks in Dadaab subcounty.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
The initiative, she said, is guided by and anchored in guidelines and oversight of National Counter Terrorism Centre, security actors, Department of Gender and the community structures such as peace committees, religious leaders, the youth and women.
“We all know that violent extremism presents one of the greatest security threats to Kenya in recent times. Garissa county has been one of the most affected and terrorist and extremist-related attacks continue to be reported,”Ahmed said.
She said the project will increase the participation of women in peace and security, advance their involvement in the development of a gender responsive policies strategies and develop a framework of countering violent extremism.
“Youth are being radicalized and recruited into violent groups due to the high employment rate and poverty level. Refugees and the host communities are vulnerable to recruitment into violent extremism organizations due to the social-economic difficulties.
"The influx of refugees within the camps may provide a safe hiding ground for violent extremists, who may not only undertake radicalization within the camps but also in the host communities,” she said.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Ahmed added that although there has been increased attention on the role of women in counter violent extremism, most of the preventing and countering violent extremism[CVE] programmes have not deeply considered gender-conscious interventions that focuses on addressing different dynamics and roles women play in violent extremism.
She said the gender responsive Dadaab CVE Action Plan has been developed through a participatory process under a project on “Strengthening the Capacity of Women’s Participation in Peace and Security Initiatives in Garissa” with support from UN women(2021-23).
“[The project] complements the NCTC’s strategy and the Garissa County Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism,” she said.
On his part Salah Yussuf, the project coordinator, said the gendered dimension of radicalization leading to violence has still received relatively little attention, despite the realization that women’s involvement in violent extremism is on the
Yussuf said it is also critical to recognize and appreciate the different roles men and women, boys and girls play in the refugee contexts of Dadaab camps and host communities.
He said women have an important role to play in detecting and influencing against extremist thinking and behavior in their families and communities.
To respond to increasing incidences of violent Extremism in Kenya, the Kenya government through the NCTC, which is mandated to coordinate prevention /CVE and counter-terrorism interventions in the country, developed the National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism (NSCVE) that was launched in 2016.
The objectives of the NSCVE were to rally all sectors of Kenya’s social, religious, and economic life to emphatically reject violent extremist ideology and aims, prioritizing al-Qaedaism and its underlying extremism and Deny opportunities for terrorist groups to radicalize and recruit in Kenya.
The threat of militant violence is highest along the Kenya-Somalia border in Lamu, Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera counties.
The group typically targets citizens, security personnel, and transport vehicles.
The common tactics employed by al Shabaab militants include suicide operations, armed assaults, bomb/grenade attacks and kidnappings.
The county has largely been edged into the larger cycle of radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism.