GCERF supports activities in Somalia to prevent violent extremism by building community resilience and social cohesion . GCERF currently focuses on empowering youth and women, whose exclusion from political and community processes is a driver of recruitment into violent extremist groups. Other target groups include community leaders, teachers in madrassas and schools’ teachers and existing peace structures by building their capacity to effectively engage their community members on prevention of violent extremism. GCERF invests in programmes designed to: 

• Train youth and women on civic rights and responsibilities, improving their knowledge of political processes and capacity for advocacy.
• Provide in-depth knowledge of legal rights, including human rights frameworks, enabling them to act as local advocates and human rights defenders. 
• Engage in lobbying and discussions with whole communities to negotiate spaces for the engagement of youth and women in decision-making processes. 
• Support the creation of two organisations representing the interests of youth and women, which will be helped to obtain their own funding following the end of the project. 
• Train mental health paraprofessionals and address skills gaps.
• Create business networks of entrepreneurs to work with youth and support them with employment skills as well as inclusion on a job registry.
• Raise awareness through broadcasts that reduce taboos around mental health
• Improve the capacity of existing local peace committees to effectively engage community members.
• Provide opportunities for functional and structured dialogue and engagement between young people and authority figures (both government and elders) to advocate for specific PVE issues;
• Build on these forums for integrated participation and action.