Alliance for Peacebuilding Congratulates Uzra Zeya and Bonnie Jenkins on Nominations to the U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C., USA. – The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) congratulates former AfP President and CEO, Uzra Zeya, and former AfP Board Member, Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, on their nominations by President Biden for Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights and Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, respectively, in the United States (U.S.) Department of State. AfP and its 130+ membership are heartened to gain such strong champions for peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and human rights at the highest levels of the new Administration.
AfP is thrilled for these two dynamic, innovative leaders, Ms. Zeya and Ambassador Jenkins, who will reenter public service with deep knowledge of vital U.S. foreign policy priorities, including how to ensure successful implementation of the Global Fragility Act and Strategy, the Youth, Peace, and Security Agenda, the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, as well as efforts to right-size counterterrorism laws and policies in support of unimpeded access for peacebuilding and humanitarian aid, and beyond.
Together and individually, Ms. Zeya and Ambassador Jenkins spearheaded cutting-edge DEI work, including developing the implementation of DEI principles and values within organizations, programs, and learning and evaluation processes. The DEI Working Group they launched in the summer of 2020 supported collective action, open conversations, and shared learning in this space. As a peacebuilding community, we recognize that acting in accordance with these values is key to advancing a more peaceful, just, and prosperous world. In a moment when we are witnessing the disproportionate impact of a global pandemic on women and persons of color—inequalities that are key drivers for violent conflict and fragility—we look to these powerful women to lead our country and the U.S. State Department in rejecting racism, promoting inclusion, and ensuring U.S. innovation in the promotion of peacebuilding, democracy, and human rights.
As always, AfP and its 130+ global members remain available to the incoming Administration to advise on peacebuilding and conflict prevention priorities, as well as other critical issues to foreign assistance, human rights, and democracy promotion, including U.S. peacebuilding, in the new Administration.
Ms. Zeya’s nearly 30-year diplomatic career has earned her great respect within the U.S. government, the foreign service, and among the peacebuilding community. As Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Paris from 2014 to 2017, she led the U.S. response to three major terror attacks and forged unprecedented cooperation with France in combating terrorism in Africa and the Middle East, countered Russian aggression and malign influence in Europe, and mobilized global action to confront climate change. Ms. Zeya served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from 2012 to 2014 and oversaw over $400 million in global human rights and democracy assistance, led U.S. human rights dialogues with China and other countries, and launched a new public-private partnership to counter gender-based violence. As Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State from 2011 to 2012, she helped shape the U.S. policy response to the Arab Spring and deepened U.S. engagement with emerging powers. She also served as Deputy Executive Secretary to Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton and overseas at Embassies New Delhi, Muscat, Damascus, Cairo, and Kingston.
Ambassador Jenkins is the Founder and President of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS). Prior to founding WCAPS in 2017, she served for eight years as an Ambassador at the U.S. State Department and Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. Ambassador Jenkins has had fellowships at the Brookings Institution, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House, the Rand Corporation, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. She also served as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and the Georgetown University Law Center, as well as a lecturer at the George Washington Elliot School of International Affairs and the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
With over 130 member organizations, AfP brings together the largest development organizations, most innovative academic institutions, and influential humanitarian and faith-based groups to harness collective action for peace. We build coalitions in key areas of strategy and policy to elevate the entire peacebuilding field, tackling issues too large for any one organization to address alone.