How Congress Can Break Down Barriers to GFA Implementation

To successfully implement the GFA, Congress and the Administration must develop a close partnership that requires a robust and regular communications strategy to build trust, share developments, create buy-in, and ensure sustained commitment to the GFA. The GFA offers a much-needed opportunity for the U.S. Government to experiment with programming, which could ultimately be the way ahead beyond the five priority countries and region for U.S. government strategies in conflict affected and fragile states. The Administration and Congress must foster and ensure a close partnership to communicate challenges and successes and what it needs for the GFA to succeed. While there are many bureaucratic, operational, and legal barriers and challenges, Congress can now address the following issues to ensure the successful implementation of the GFA.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiMarch 13, 2023AfP, Policy Brief

How the 118th Congress Can Prevent Violent Conflict & Promote Peace in the United States

The Alliance for Peacebuilding urgently calls lawmakers to action to collectively work together to address grievances across the political spectrum and provide the necessary resources to fund vital programs to prevent and reduce violent conflict and extremism and build sustainable peace in the United States. Peacebuilding organizations across the country are working to address the drivers of increasing violence and extremism in the U.S., and now it is time for Congress to devote sufficient resources to their efforts.

Policy and AdvocacyNick ZuroskiMarch 6, 2023Policy Brief, AfP

A Pivot to Prevention: How the 118th Congress Can Prevent Violent Conflict & Build Peace Globally

Preventing and reducing violent conflict and building sustainable peace globally is a bipartisan issue. Congress is leading on adopting practical laws and providing critical peacebuilding and conflict prevention funding. However, more work is needed to ensure peacebuilding and conflict prevention become central pillars and are integrated throughout U.S. foreign diplomacy and development strategies and policies. As the 118th Congress begins its work, it must elevate peacebuilding and conflict prevention and ensure the U.S. government has the ability to innovate, scale what is working, and change what is not. Now, Congress must provide much-needed resources to support partnership with conflict-affected and fragile states to address increasing violent conflict and extremism and promote security—at home and abroad.

Policy and AdvocacyGuest UserFebruary 28, 2023Policy Brief, AfP

Futures in the Balance: Taking Action to Ensure Afghan Women's & Girls' Rights Under Taliban Rule

As Afghanistan marks one year since the Taliban took control, the humanitarian and human rights situation in the country is devastatingly grim, particularly for Afghan women and girls. Severe food insecurity, an economic crisis, human rights abuses targeting women and girls, and overt gender discrimination have brought Afghanistan to the brink of humanitarian collapse and eroded decades of progress towards development and gender equality. The United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the international community’s shift in attention and resources to the conflict in Ukraine continue to exacerbate the breakdown of safety, rights, and assistance for Afghan women and girls. As this situation further deteriorates, the U.S. must show leadership and take action to mobilize the international community to center gender equality and human rights in all diplomatic, development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian engagement in Afghanistan.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiAugust 15, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Locally-Led Peacebuilding: From Policy to Action

This policy brief outlines the importance of locally-led peacebuilding (LLPB) programming, identifies best practices for working to advance LLPB, and provides recommendations to the Biden Administration, Donors, and Practitioners for its meaningful implementation.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiMay 27, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

The Climate Change Crisis: Ensuring Integration of Conflict Prevention and Climate Change in U.S. Foreign Policy and Development Assistance (April 2022 Update)

This policy brief provides key recommendations to the Biden Administration to robustly integrate conflict prevention and climate action and address the compounding crises of climate change, conflict, and fragility. The brief was originally released in August 2021 and has been updated to reflect recent research and global political and policy developments.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiApril 6, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Building the Bridge to Peace: Reframing Peace and Peacebuilding

The FrameWorks Institute, Alliance for Peacebuilding, and PartnersGlobal joined forces to deliver evidence-based recommendations for more effective narrative strategies that build public understanding and support for peacebuilding.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiApril 5, 2022AfP, Policy Brief

Afghan Women’s Rights Remain on the Periphery of Talks with Taliban

Over the past six months, the Taliban has targeted and terrorized the women and girls of Afghanistan, swiftly reimposing draconian measures that limit their freedom and undermine their safety. In the past few weeks alone, numerous reports have emerged of women human rights defenders being detained, tortured, and killed for their activism. Despite public rhetoric claiming support for Afghan women and girls, the world has largely watched as the Taliban dramatically rolled back their rights by decades.

In solidarity with our Afghan sisters, we call upon the U.S. Government to exercise bold leadership in amplifying the voices and rights of Afghan women and girls, as is required by the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 and the U.S. Strategy on WPS.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionMegan RodgersJanuary 27, 2022AfP, Policy Brief