President Bashar al-Assad's regime’s sudden defeat marked a surprising conclusion to the 13-year civil war in Syria. The incoming Trump Administration should undertake robust diplomacy at the highest levels to prevent further violence in Syria and the region, incentivize HTS and other potential spoilers to support a democratic transition, scale up conflict-sensitive humanitarian assistance, and deploy programs that prioritize stabilization, conflict and violent extremism prevention, and peacebuilding, in line with the principles of the Global Fragility Act (GFA).
Read MoreCentering peacebuilding and conflict prevention in U.S. foreign policy and assistance is not just the right thing for the incoming Trump Administration to do—it is the smart, strategically sound, and cost-effective thing to do. Every dollar invested in conflict prevention saves $16 that would otherwise be spent on expensive humanitarian or security responses. Peacebuilding’s inherent multisectoral, coordinated, and crosscutting approach results in more informed, evidence-based, and fit-for-purpose interventions that address the underlying drivers of violent conflict, violence, and insecurity. The previous Trump Administration made important strides by signing into law the Global Fragility Act (GFA) in 2019, along with other key laws that elevate conflict prevention and peacebuilding in U.S. foreign policy and assistance. By picking back up this mantle, the incoming Trump Administration has an opportunity to reduce and prevent violent conflict, violence, and fragility, stabilize rampant insecurity, and build sustainable peace at a time of record-breaking global conflict. However, to do so, the Trump Administration must ensure robust implementation of their laws and strategies, which requires changing the way the U.S. does business and prioritizing conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Such an approach can help the U.S. outmaneuver its geopolitical competitors, save American taxpayer money, and build a cadre of long-term allies and partners to advance U.S. interests and security globally.
Read MoreThe Prevention and Protection Working Group (PPWG) at the Alliance for Peacebuilding convened extensive consultations to compose the following assessment of and recommendations for the report to Congress of the U.S. Government’s (USG) atrocity anticipation, prevention, and response activities in 2023-2024, as required by Section 5 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act (EWGAPA). This assessment also addresses the implementation of the 2022 United States Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities (SAPRA) and the use of the 2021 Atrocity Risk Assessment Framework (ARAF). The purpose of this assessment is to assist the USG in strengthening its reporting and improving the efficacy of anticipating, preventing, and responding to atrocities by identifying and analyzing trends, gaps, and opportunities to enhance measurement and demonstrate impact.
Read MoreThree years have passed since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. Since then, the situation for the people of Afghanistan has grown increasingly grave. The Taliban regime has created humanitarian, political, social, and economic disasters. These have directly affected the day-to-day lives of Afghans and caused mass displacement. Women and girls are particularly and disproportionately impacted. The Taliban has dispossessed them of their human rights. Afghanistan is indeed the most serious and severe women’s rights catastrophe in the world. Yet, the international community’s response has been tepid at best and conciliatory at worst. The international community must do more to stand with Afghan women as they struggle to restore their human rights. The U.S. in particular needs to demonstrate solidarity with the Afghan people who are suffering under the Taliban regime and continue to call out the systematic oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Read MoreThe Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), a nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 220+ organizational members operating in 181 countries working to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, stands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza by all parties to the conflict, the release of all hostages, urgent humanitarian access to deliver much-needed assistance, adherence to international humanitarian law, and the end of increasing settler violence in the West Bank. We also call for preventing and reducing the threat of rising antisemitism and Islamophobia in the United States and globally, as well as nonviolent negotiation and protection of civic spaces in response to campus protests. Most importantly, AfP calls for the status quo no more—we must all demand that all parties to the conflict and the international community work toward an inclusive political solution that allows all people in the region to live in dignity and safety.
The publications and tools compiled below are critical resources that can help the public, the peacebuilding community, the private sector, policymakers, universities, and beyond address the conflict and reduce and prevent increasing violence globally. If you have an item to include, please contact Nick Zuroski.
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