Attachments
SECTION I. WHY MEASURE RESILIENCE TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE?
Why build a Resilience Index?
After the 2016 attack on Grand-Bassam (a town near the Ivorian economic capital of Abidjan) a string of deadly attacks in the country's northern border zone with Burkina Faso and Mali by Violent Extremist Organizations (VEOs) active in the Sahel demonstrated that Côte d'Ivoire was not to be spared from violent extremism (VE). Ivorian authorities, aware of the risk of VEO expansion, invested heavily in a proactive policy to secure their Northern border. This securitized approach to the issue was complemented by the development of multifaceted initiatives to improve human security and access to basic social services, develop infrastructure, and promote social cohesion. This governmental effort sought to alleviate the sense of insecurity and socio-economic alienation likely to serve as incubators for VEO exploitation and has been supported by various initiatives led by non-state actors.
The Resilience for Peace (R4P) project implemented by Equal Access International (EAI) is part of this effort. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), R4P aims to build community resilience to VE in the northern border areas of Côte d'Ivoire. R4P relies on comprehensive contextual analysis of local social, political, economic, and cultural factors and dynamics to drive its activities. Since the start of the project, more than twenty studies and research projects have been carried out, providing data on a range of dynamics such as the rise of artisanal gold mining and other illicit activities in border areas, and the identification of the early and detectable warning signs of VE.
The Resilience Index pilot being referred to as DRIVE-CI serves as an operational reference matrix. It is designed as a decision-making and action-support tool, providing evidence to inform, guide, prioritize and measure the impact of public policies and other initiatives working to prevent and counter VE. Many P/CVE projects claim to tackle a long list of diverse “risk factors” and “vulnerabilities” to VE, with no common hierarchy or linkages. While the term “resilience-building” is frequently used in these projects, there is rarely any precise formulation, documentation or definition of specific resilience capabilities. To address this, the design of DRIVE-CI drew heavily on USAID's conceptual framework for resilience and the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Index (SCORE) methodology, which resulted in a model of community resilience to threats from VEOs. The model addresses the question, “Given the unstable security situation of its Sahelian neighbors (Burkina Faso and Mali), how can Côte d'Ivoire prevent or reduce the spread of VE into the north of its territory?” We seek to identify resilience capacities that can guarantee the lowest possible social receptivity to the VEO’s offer of alternative governance in border localities.
To differentiate the Resilience Index from those being used in other countries, the tool has been defined as the Development & Resilience Index against Violence Extremism- Côte d'Ivoire (DRIVE-CI). It will be referenced as such throughout the remainder of this document.
Community resilience refers to the ability of a community to effectively manage stressful events, reduce risks associated with these events and prepare for future challenges by leveraging factors such as economic aspects, social capital, and community competence. Resilience is what allows communities to activate suitable resources to cope with adversities