From Input to Impact: Evaluating Terrorism Prevention Programs

The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation has released a report titled, "From Input to Impact: Evaluating Terrorism Prevention Programs," which discusses the shift many states are making toward prevention in counterterrorism programs and strategies, "and offers a preliminary framework for assessing the impact of preventive actions."

As governments increasingly turn toward prevention in counterterrorism initiatives, questions concerning the challenges of program evaluation have emerged. Among these questions are:

• Is prevention an effective response to the diverse extremist threats that states face today?
• How can the effectiveness of prevention programs be measured?
• What approaches have states implemented in assessing the impact of terrorism prevention policies?
• Can lessons be taken from efforts to evaluate programs in similar policy domains?

The report details three broad approaches to program evaluation among states, including multidimensional, vertical, and horizontal strategies. It also reviews lessons learned, effective practices from current efforts at the regional and national levels, and "considers insights offered by a range of practitioners in related policy domains, including conflict transformation, development, strategic communications and security sector reform." The report concludes with the reminder that "as the threat of violent extremism evolves, so counterterrorism and CVE [countering violent extremism] efforts must evolve with it. A more robust understanding of the effectiveness of particular tools, such as terrorism prevention, is essential in delivering a counterterrorism policy that is balanced and effective."

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