The Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) is an ambitious, multi-disciplinary and transformational change programme working to deliver the NI Executive’s priority of addressing the challenging issues associated with paramilitarism in Northern Ireland. The Programme focuses on stopping harm in the here and now as well as putting in place early interventions to ensure future generations are not exploited or traumatised through paramilitary coercion, control and violence.

Support is delivered collaboratively by government departments, statutory agencies and partners in the voluntary and community sector. The Programme uses a public health approach to violence reduction and is on a journey to be trauma-responsive and informed in everything it does. It draws heavily on a mix of data, expert local knowledge and international best practice to deliver innovative multi-agency initiatives. The Programme’s projects draw on expertise, data and knowledge from lots of disciplines. Some projects prevent harm before it occurs, some aim to deal with harm immediately as it is happening – to stabilise the situation and prevent it worsening, and some projects are about reducing the long-term impact of paramilitarism and organised crime. To find out more about the Programme, it’s structure and the projects it supports, please visit www.endingtheharm.com/about-us

This comprehensive review of the Programme took place in 2020, leading to a new phase of the Programme (Phase 2) that started in April 2021. The purpose of this document is to review just under four years of delivery under the Tackling Paramilitarism, Organised Crime and Criminality Programme and to offer a proposal for a refreshed approach to delivery based on learning from 2017 to 2020. This interim review has been written by the team responsible for coordinating the 38 actions within the Executive Action Plan which fell to the NI Executive. It is based on learning captured through the process of coordinating and monitoring delivery of the Executive Action Plan and accompanies two published reports by the Independent Reporting Commission, as well as two Gateway Reviews and independent evaluations of individual projects.