| Overview : In recent years, the world has witnessed new waves of violent extremism that have taken the lives of many innocent people. While security and law enforcement approaches are necessary to manage and respond to the threat of violent extremism, these measures will not be sufficient in and of themselves to reduce the prevalence and potential impact of violent extremism over the long-term. The prevention of violent extremism requires security measures to be complemented with additional measures based on socio-economic causes and solutions, anchored in robust analysis of the diverse local drivers of violent extremism. UNDP’s conceptual framework consists of 11 interlinked building blocks forming a theory of change that explains how development can help prevent violent extremism. Enhancing the fight against corruption and widespread impunity is an important component of that strategy. Countries or local communities that make a solid effort to reduce the petty and grand corruption that fuel people’s perceptions of injustice provide a visible sign that causes of inequality and marginalization are being addressed. UNDP strategies at the national level aim to design new initiatives (including fast track projects to address immediate challenges) and also include an analysis and adaptation of UNDP’s existing portfolio of projects, examining how they may positively or negatively influence the drivers of radicalization and violent extremism. The Anti-Corruption for Peaceful and Inclusive Societies (ACPIS) project is guided by the strong link between governance, peace-building and development. This link is the focus of UNDP’s global strategy on ‘Preventing Violent Extremism through Inclusive Development and the Promotion of Tolerance and Respect for Diversity’, which advocates a comprehensive development response to addressing radicalization and violent extremism. The strategy acknowledges that the prevention of violent extremism needs to go beyond reactive security concerns and that it will not be possible to deliver peaceful, just and inclusive societies when corruption continues to deprive many people of important development dividends. This global strategy calls for action to address the development related causes of this threat, such as perceptions of injustice, human rights violations, social-political exclusion, widespread corruption and the sustained mistreatment of certain groups. Corruption is one of several factors that, over the long-term, contribute to an enabling environment for violent extremism. While little empirical evidence exists about this dynamic, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, anecdotal evidence indicates that corruption contributes to an enabling environment for violent extremism in at least two ways: - weakening law enforcement efforts by undermining the capacity and integrity of law enforcement agencies, including police, border protection, prosecutors, courts and prisons (see, e.g. Louise Shelley, Dirty Entanglements: Corruption, Crime, and Terrorism, 2014); and
- stoking anger towards the state and other groups by perpetuating citizens’ marginalization, offending their sense of justice and undermining their dignity (e.g. Sarah Chayes, Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, 2015).
Objectives: The objective of this consultancy is to produce the first comprehensive study on the linkages between violent extremism and corruption in the Asia Pacific region. The study will contain three components: - an analysis of the applicability of existing literature on the links between corruption and violent extremism to the Asia-Pacific region;
- the generation and analysis of new empirical data on the links between corruption and violent extremism in the Asia-Pacific region; and
- an identification of entry points for action by the UNDP and relevant partners at the local, country, regional and global levels to address the issue of corruption and violent extremism.
Interested, please download the Terms of Reference, P11 form and Financial Proposal Template and submit online. Please visit https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=70960. For more clarification, please email to procurement.my@undp.org |
