State, USAID release joint strategy for countering violent extremism

In May, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released their Joint Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). The joint strategy builds on the foundation of the 2015 White House CVE Summit and provides a “roadmap” for U.S. CVE efforts.

In his opening message for the strategy, Secretary of State John Kerry states that “The Department of State and USAID have produced a proactive international strategy recognizing immediate needs, utilizing our strengths, and demonstrating our will to comprehensively address the challenge of violent extremism, including the root causes. Together, we are building organizational structures needed to pursue a more aggressive and integrated approach to this challenge. This is a generational struggle, but we must begin now.”

The new CVE strategy will guide U.S. efforts to leverage the full range of diplomatic and development resources to prevent and counter the spread of violent extremism through five objectives:

  • Expand international political will, partnerships, and expertise to better understand the drivers of violent extremism and mobilize effective interventions.
  • Encourage and assist partner governments to adopt more effective policies and approaches to prevent and counter the spread of violent extremism, including changing unhelpful practices where necessary.
  • Employ foreign assistance tools and approaches, including development assistance, to reduce specific political or social and economic factors that contribute to community support for violent extremism in identifiable areas or put particular segments of a population at high risk of violent extremist radicalization and recruitment to violence.
  • Empower and amplify locally credible voices that can change the perception of violent extremist groups among key demographic segments.
  • Strengthen the capabilities of government and non-governmental actors to isolate, intervene with, and promote the rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals caught in the cycle of radicalization to violence.

In a State Department podcast, Deputy Coordinator for Countering Violent Extremism
Michael Ortiz discusses the joint strategy to counter violent extremism.

For more information on the CVE strategy, please follow the links below.
Department of State & USAID Joint Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism, State Department & USAID
Department of State and USAID: Assisting International Partners to Counter Violent Extremism, State Department
The Department of State and USAID Release Joint Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism, State Department


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