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Kenya
East and Southern Africa

KENYA

GCERF began investing in Kenya in 2018, with a total investment of USD 13 million to date aimed at addressing the drivers of violent extremism and strengthening community resilience. Violent extremism has posed a significant threat to Kenya since the late 1990s, following the Al-Qaeda bombing of the United States Embassy in Nairobi. While large-scale attacks have become less frequent in recent years, smaller-scale incidents continue to occur, particularly in the Coastal and North-Eastern regions of the country.

  • locationCreated with Sketch Beta.
  • Mandera
  • Marsabit
  • Wajir
  • Tana River
  • Lamu
Background and Context
Country Snapshot
Key Results
Investment Strategy
Story of Change
Background & Context

Understanding Violent
 Extremism in Kenya

Kenya’s National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism (NSCVE) identifies violent extremism linked to Salafi-jihadi ideology as the country’s main security threat. This ideology is promoted by groups such as Al-Shabaab and ISIS, which seek to expand their influence in the Horn of Africa. According to the Strategy, these groups take advantage of grievances rooted in real or perceived political exclusion, marginalisation, and alienation from the state and mainstream political life.

Alongside these transnational extremist organisations, Kenya has also experienced the rise of locally driven violent extremist movements. One example is the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), which emerged from long-standing frustrations at the Coast over land ownership, economic inequality, and the perception that non-local communities dominate the regional economy. These grievances have contributed to local support for separatist and extremist narratives in some coastal areas.

GCERF'S UNIQUE INVESTMENT MODEL

Country
 Support Mechanism

GCERF pioneers a unique model of investment designed to promote a whole-of-society approach and ensure the sustainability of our programmes. Under this model, in each partner country, we support national governments in establishing a steering committee called the Country Support Mechanism (CSM).

In Kenya, CSM is chaired by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and includes representatives from the Ministry of Interior, county governments, donors, and independent think tanks. CSM provides strategic direction for the programmes, ensure results and progressively inherits ownership of funding community-level efforts to prevent violent extremism.

Download Country Snapshot
Key Drivers of Violent Extremism
Youth unemployment

High poverty and unemployment leave many youth without viable livelihoods, increasing their vulnerability to recruitment by non-state armed groups, including VE organisations.

Perceived marginalisation

Feeling of exclusion can weaken trust in state institutions and increase vulnerability to extremist narratives that exploit grievances and claims of injustice.

Lack of trust between community members and security actors

Limited trust in law enforcement forces can result from past abuses, perceived discrimination, or ineffective protection. It may reduce community cooperation with authorities, creating gaps that extremist groups can exploit.

Results at a Glance

Key Results

Total amount invested (USD)
$ 0 M
Grants
0
Civil society organisations
0
Paraprofessionals, psychologists, counsellors and community leaders trained for reintegrating disengaged individuals
0 +
Young people at-risk of radicalisation equipped with vocational skills and entrepreneurship support to reduce their vulnerability to recruitment into violent extremism
0 +
Security actors, government officials, religious leaders and community members engaged through dialogue forums to strengthen trust and essential for community safety and policing efforts
0 +
Community members, religious leaders, women and youth-at risk of radicalisation trained in conflict resolution to address grievances before VE groups can exploit them
0 +

Investment & grant figures updated May 2026 · Programme results updated December 2025

Our Approach

Investment Strategy
 in Kenya

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Support the localisation and implementation of NSCVE and the county action plans to prevent violent extremism
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Support the rehabilitation and reintegration of disengaged former members of VE groups
Community trust icon
Enhancing engagement and trust between community members and authorities​
Our IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS

Active Grants
 in Kenya

Current Grants 2 Active
01 Act, Change, Transform!
▼
Grant Overview
Amount
USD 1,585,000
Duration
Jan 2025 – Sep 2027
Implementing Partners
Principal Recipient
Act, Change, Transform! (Act!)
Programme Objectives
1
Provide CBOs with small grants and capacity to deliver PVE programmes.
2
Increase awareness of women, youth and the community on PVE – including human rights and gender (offline and online).
3
Improve agency for community leaders, especially youth and women, on driving P/CVE.
4
Increase socio-economic resilience for women and youth against violent extremism through increased sustainable income.
Areas of Implementation
Lamu Mandera Marsabit Tana River Wajir
02 Somali Institute for Development Research and Analysis
▼
Grant Overview
Amount
USD 250,000
Duration
Jan 2026 – Dec 2027
Implementing Partners
Principal Recipient
Somali Institute for Development Research and Analysis (SIDRA)
Sub-Recipients
Climate and Health Connect (CHC)
Programme Objectives
1
Conduct in-situ monitoring of hard-to-reach areas and establish a complementary remote monitoring system.
2
Facilitate and provide support to in-person knowledge-sharing events.
3
Undertake rapid needs assessments (RNAs) to inform decision-making by the Somalia Country Support Mechanism (CSMs).
Areas of Implementation
Lamu Mandera Marsabit Tana River Wajir
Impact in Action

Story of Change

Featured Story
Story of Change · Kenya
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