FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

February 24, 2023

CONTACT

Nicholas Gugerty | (202) 822-2047 | ngugerty@allianceforpeacebuilding.org

Washington, DC, USA — The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), a nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 180+ members operating in 181 countries working to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, solemnly marks the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The war is causing widespread destruction and death in Ukraine and adding to the growing global refugee and humanitarian crisis. It is also causing a tectonic geopolitical shift not seen since 9/11 or the end of the Cold War. AfP urgently calls for de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, sustained and inclusive diplomacy, and unimpeded humanitarian assistance. AfP also calls on international donors to fulfill existing commitments to aid Ukrainians and expand peacebuilding and conflict prevention assistance to promote accountability for atrocities, reconstruction, reconciliation, and recovery during and after the war. While the situation in Ukraine involves profound implications for economic and geopolitical stability, AfP urges the international community to promote conflict and atrocities prevention globally and continue to address and robustly respond to other conflicts and crises, including in Yemen, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria, and Somalia.

AfP applauds the international community for its rapid and ongoing response to the conflict, with hundreds of billions in pledged aid, including by multilateral, regional, and bilateral donors, to address the humanitarian, financial, and development needs. However, Ukrainians continue to face pressing challenges and funding gaps. AfP encourages donors to expand life-saving assistance to those affected by the war, ensuring that programs are gender-responsive, trauma-informed, locally-led, conflict-sensitive, and meet the expressed needs of the community.

The War in Ukraine has already accounted for nearly 19,000 civilian casualties, and created over 5.3 million internally displaced persons and more than 8 million Ukrainian refugees. Today, approximately 17.6 million people in Ukraine require humanitarian assistance, particularly women and youth, who are being disproportionately impacted by the violent conflict. Attacks have created $137.8 billion in damage to Ukrainian infrastructure and undermined over half of Ukraine's energy systems. Russia continues to perpetrate extensive cyberattacks in Ukraine and globally, including against organizations providing aid in the region, and persists with threats to use nuclear and chemical weapons.

Reports by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine identified significant war crimes and human rights violations committed in this conflict. These include the killing of civilians, hostage-taking, execution, torture, and conflict-related sexual violence. To date, the Ukrainian Prosecutor has found evidence of 71,095 war crimes. Numerous other investigations into war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities are underway, including by the International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice, and multiple regional, national, and civil society entities. These initiatives have the opportunity to revolutionize efforts to collect and preserve evidence in real-time to facilitate justice and accountability for the commission of international crimes both during and after the conflict.

The invasion has also had severe negative impacts beyond Ukraine. Both Russia and Ukraine play key roles in the global supply of food and energy and disruptions to distribution chains have caused the worst food crisis since World War II. Soaring prices for food and energy are slowing global economic growth and causing a record 349 million people across 79 countries to face acute food insecurity—a significant increase from 287 million in 2021.

The need for conflict and atrocities prevention assistance remains critical around the world. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) States of Fragility 2022 Report found the total number of fragile contexts is the highest since the initial release of the report in 2007, and that 1.9 billion people live in fragile contexts—accounting for 24% of the world’s population and 73% of the world’s extreme poor. Unfortunately, only four percent of overseas development assistance goes to preventing and reducing violent conflict. AfP urges the international community to continue to increase its investments in peacebuilding, atrocities prevention and response, and conflict resolution assistance to mitigate and resolve ongoing conflict dynamics within Ukraine, the region, and globally. AfP also recommends donors prioritize the provision of rapid and flexible funding for local organizations and their international partners to implement programming that addresses the drivers and impacts of conflict and fragility, post-conflict reconstruction, and the building and strengthening of effective and legitimate governance institutions.

AfP urgently calls on the international community to mobilize to provide sustained humanitarian and protection assistance to the Ukrainian people. However, it must also robustly increase funding for and support efforts to hold those accountable for atrocities and human rights violations, as well as for programs that address drivers of conflict and fragility in Ukraine and globally to more effectively prevent and reduce violence conflict and build sustainable peace.

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), named the “number one influencer and change agent” among peacebuilding institutions worldwide, is an award-winning nonprofit and nonpartisan network of 170+ organizations working in 181 countries to prevent and reduce violent conflict and build sustainable peace. AfP cultivates a network to strengthen and advance the peacebuilding field, enabling peacebuilding organizations to achieve greater impact—tackling issues too large for any one organization to address alone.