The Japanese idealist behind the only foreign deradicalization program in Somalia
Yosuke Nagai, director of the nongovernmental organization Accept International | AFP-JIJI
Sep 2, 2026
Nairobi – Yosuke Nagai was an idealistic teenager who wanted to help war-torn Somalia. He now runs the only foreign-funded reintegration program for Islamist fighters still operating in the country.
Nagai was just 19 when he set up a program for Somali students in 2011 aimed at tackling the root causes of the brutal insurgency waged in their country by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.
By 2013, he had established a program to rehabilitate Somali gang members, and three years later, that led to a collaboration with Somalia’s government on reintegrating former members of al-Shabab.
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