About Us

How We Work

Mobilising Resources for Resilience

Vision

Peaceful and inclusive communities are resilient to violent extremism and achieve sustainable development.

Mission

We are a global fund that strengthens community resilience by supporting local initiatives to address the drivers of violent extremism.

Types of Grants

Core Funding Mechanism

The core funding mechanism provides grants and support for up to three years to organisations working at the community level to build resilience to violent extremist agendas. Grants are disbursed to locally-registered legal entities, or primary recipients, who coordinate a consortium of community-based organisations, or sub-recipients, who run activities aimed at preventing violent extremism.

Comprehensive Risk Management

To ensure the optimum performance of its funding, GCERF systematically conducts risk assessments in areas of institutional programmatic, and contextual risks, with special focus on ensuring that the risks to grantees and beneficiaries are minimised.

Context Relevance

GCERF always bases its funding decisions on thorough assessments of local factors that act as drivers of violent extremism. Addressing context-specific needs often calls for new and innovative approaches.

Country OwnerShip

GCERF ensures that activities are led by local communities and support the strategic objectives of national governments to prevent violent extremism. GCERF only supports projects or activities that are previously agreed to by GCERF partner governments (which are also members of the GCERF Governing Board).

Accountability & Learning

GCERF’s work is anchored in evidence. GCERF develops and adapts methodologies and tools to monitor and evaluate results, learn from experience, and continuously improve performance.

Carol Bellamy Fellowship

The Carol Bellamy Women Entrepreneurs Against Violent Extremism Fellowship (WEAVE) supports small-scale, female-led organisations working in areas affected by violent extremism. Named after Carol Bellamy, the first chairperson of the GCERF Board and an ardent supporter of women’s empowerment, the fellowship strengthens the female-led organisations that GCERF works with by providing additional financial support.

Female-led organisations play a vital role in meeting the needs of victims and survivors of violent extremism yet are often too small or under-resourced to meet the requirements of donors. The Carol Bellamy Fellowship enables women to use the award in ways they believe would best build their capacity and amplify their impact. An award from the Carol Bellamy Fellowship is a step towards the empowerment of those most impacted, enabling them to make a sustainable difference in the fight against violent extremism.

To know more about the recipients of the fellowship, watch our video and read a story.

Monitoring & Evaluation

Strengthening grantees’ M&E capacities remains one of the key features of GCERF’s support. In addition to day-to-day technical advice, the Secretariat implements a Community of Practice in several countries to improve M&E practices and allow reflection on achievements, implementation challenges, lessons learned and programme design.

In 2019, the GCERF Secretariat hosted a two-day international learning event called the GCERF Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. The idea was to allow the cross-pollination of ideas between grant recipients and give an opportunity for PVE practitioners to learn from each other. The event was attended by more than 35 participants, including grant recipients from Bangladesh, Kenya, Kosovo, Mali and Nigeria, as well as international PVE experts and representatives from Global Affairs Canada.

The Independent Review Panel is an impartial group of 12 experts appointed by the Governing Board to provide a rigorous technical assessment of requests for funding received by GCERF. The panel ensures quality programming, PVE specificity, and alignment to national priorities. The panel also provides expert advice on country assessments and GCERF’s investment strategies. Members are institutionally independent of the GCERF Secretariat and Governing Board. Each serves in a personal capacity with no link to their employer, government, or other entity.