The New Zealand government said on Friday that the country is establishing a National Centre of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and offering scholarships to those researching counter-terrorism, social cohesion and equality.  The National Centre of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violence Extremism will be a collaborative organization based in a New Zealand university or research institute, with the government funding research into the causes of terrorism as part of its ongoing response to the 2019 terrorist attacks on two Christchurch mosques that killed 51 people and injured 40, as per reports.

Establishing a program to fund independent New Zealand-focused research on the causes of, and measures to prevent, violent extremism and terrorism was one of 44 recommendations made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the attack.

Andrew Little, lead coordinating minister for Government's Response to the Royal Commission's Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques, made the announcement.

The government also offers at least 10 scholarships of NZ$15,000 ($10,336) each to master's students researching ways of countering and preventing terrorism, including issues like social cohesion and social equality.

"Work done by the National Centre of Excellence and the scholarship recipients will deepen our understanding of how and why violent terrorism can occur and help us prevent it happening again," Little said.  In June, participants in the first national meeting on countering terrorism and violent extremism discussed the objectives and priorities for the centre.

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