ICRD – Sahel White Paper

ICRD, in partnership with the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice (Salam) and Global Research Insights (GRI), implemented the USAID West Africa-supported program entitled: “Measuring the Impact of Civic Values Training for Informal Educators of Students’ Vulnerability to Violent Extremism.” 

The overall program goal was to test the impact of exposure to civic values and constructive pedagogy on extremist attitudes among informal educators and their students in the Lake Chad Region (LCR). The program implemented a series of workshops and coaching for informal educators in select geographic locations in impacted regions of Chad and Cameroon.

These educators were trained to apply interactive pedagogy and teach civic values and critical thinking skills on social topics related to violent extremism, such as attitudes toward religious outgroups, peacebuilding, and the management of prejudices toward religious and ethnic outgroups. Following the trainings, ICRD led evaluations to determine how they affected the beneficiaries, including the educators (direct beneficiaries) and their students (secondary beneficiaries).

As shown in the white paper report below, the program brought forth new evidence on how interventions in interactive pedagogy and civic values may affect community resistance to violent extremism among informal educators and students in the LCR. Through the publications and dissemination efforts generated through this program, the analysis will be used to inform future interventions responding to challenges and opportunities within this population of strategic interest.