Background Note and Guidance for National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on “Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism”

This "whole-of-society" approach aims, through a wide range of mostly non-coercive activities, to address the root causes that may ultimately result in "violent extremism" and acts of "terrorism". Given the political and sometimes contested nature of the approach, there was a need for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to have clear guidance and a certain degree of alignment on the subject in accordance with its Fundamental Principles.

The purpose of this document is to promote a common understanding across the Movement of the P/CVE global political agenda and to offer some practical guidance to National Societies in particular on how to position themselves and address some of the dilemmas related to P/CVE.

However, this document does not aim to influence P/CVE policies or to provide a definition of "violent extremism" – which is not the role of the Movement. Likewise, this document is not a guide on how to develop P/CVE programmes. Movement components are discouraged from getting directly involved in such programmes (owing to their political nature, their potential for generating protection-related concerns, and the perception risks attached), although it is recognized that some Movement components may be meaningfully involved in some indirectly related activities.