Sub-Saharan Africa new global epicenter of violent extremism, UN says

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - Hopes of finding work is the leading factor driving people to join fast-growing violent extremist groups in Sub-Saharan Africa, a new UN report said Tuesday.

“Sub-Saharan Africa has become the new global epicenter of violent extremism with 48% of global terrorism deaths in 2021,” said UNDP administrator Achim Steiner at a Geneva press conference.

“For example, almost half of all terrorism-related deaths in 2021 occurred in Sub- Saharan Africa.”

Steiner said the surge not only adversely impacts lives, security, and peace but also “threatens to reverse hard-won development gains for generations to come.”

Among the nearly 2,200 interviewees, one-quarter of voluntary recruits cited job opportunities as their primary reason for joining, while 40% said they were in urgent need of livelihoods at the time of recruitment.

That is a 92% increase from the findings of a 2017 UNDP study.

Religion came as the third reason for joining, cited by 17% percent — a 57% decrease from the 2017 findings, with most recruits admitting to having limited knowledge of religious texts.

- Specific trigger

Nearly half of the respondents cited a specific trigger event pushing them to join violent extremist groups, with a striking 71% pointing to human rights abuse, often conducted by state security forces, as “the tipping point.”

“Security-driven counter-terrorism responses are often costly and minimally effective, yet investments in preventive approaches to violent extremism are woefully inadequate," the report said. “The social contract between states and citizens must be reinvigorated to tackle root causes of violent extremism.”

The report titled Journey to Extremism in Africa: Pathways to Recruitment and Disengagement draws from interviews with nearly 2,200 people in eight countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan.

More than 1,000 interviewees are former members of violent extremist groups, both voluntary and forced recruits.

About “77% of those who chose to leave voluntarily through surrender or amnesty said that their expectations were not met by the violent extremist group,” said Nirina Kiplagat, the report's author.

“One of the elements cited was disappointment at monetary rewards. And this was particularly for those who had joined quite quickly.”

To counter violent extremism, the report recommends greater investment in essential services, including child welfare; education, quality livelihoods and investing in young men and women.