The Kenyan and Indonesian chapters of the Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action (JISRA) have submitted recommendations to government representatives from the respective countries outlining measures that ought to be taken to curb violent extremism.
Among the recommendations include monitoring of social media platforms which were singled out as the top recruitment avenues for modern-day terrorist networks.
“As we gear towards the launch of the national strategy to counter violent extremism in Kenya, these recommendations are aimed at highlighting the critical areas that require attention in order to prevent violent extremism in our communities,” said Zena Hassan, Country Coordinator for JISRA in Kenya.
The civil society organizations (CSOs) presented their proposals to Kibiego Kigen, Director of Kenya’s National Counter Terrorism Centre and Andhika Chrisnayudhanto, Deputy for International Cooperation at Indonesia’s National Counter Terrorism Agency during a forum held at the Embassy of Indonesia in Nairobi on Monday 3rd February 2025.
“We plan to set up a digital hub through which organizations in Kenya and Indonesia can exchange knowledge and insights on best practices to prevent violent extremism,” said Phyllis Muema, Executive Director of the Kenya Community Support Centre noting that “this will strengthen independent monitoring mechanisms.”
The CSOs also called for mainstreaming of women and girls’ participation in peace and security matters and urged decentralization of action plans to enhance community-led preventive counter-terrorism efforts.
While lack of opportunities is often cited as a key factor driving young people to join violent extremist groups, the CSOs emphasized the need to put in place reintegration mechanisms which ease the process of settling reformed youth back into society.
According to the National Counter Terrorism Centre, Kenya faces sustained terrorism threats in frontier counties, particularly in the Coast and North-Eastern regions.
“We need to nurture resilient communities that can withstand the appeal for terrorism at all levels and dissuade young people from joining terror groups,” said Kibiego Kigen. “As democratic societies, Kenya and Indonesia have a shared responsibility to bring stakeholders together to address such global challenges.”
