The United Nations Development Program is concerned that the shift of activities by violent extremist groups from the Middle East and North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa has received relatively a little attention from the International community.

Deaths from terrorism have declined over the past five years worldwide, while attacks in sub-Saharan Africa have more than doubled since 2016, says the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) which counts 4,155 attacks in 2017 to 2021, killing more than 18,400 people.

In 2021, almost half of terrorism-related deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than a third in just four countries in this region – Somalia, Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali – « the new global epicenter of ‘violent extremism’, according to UNDP chief Achim Steiner.

The United Nations Development Program is concerned that the shift of activities by violent extremist groups from the Middle East and North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa has received relatively a little attention from the International community.

Nirina Kiplagat, UNDP Regional Advisor, on her part calls on local communities to play a central role in supporting sustainable pathways out of violent extremism, alongside amnesty programs put in place by governments.

It should be noted that a UN report indicates that the lack of employment more than religious ideology allows violent extremists to attract more and more recruits in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings of the UN survey of nearly 2,200 men and women were based on interviews conducted in 2021 and early 2022 that targeted eight countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.