Our Clarifying Moment: A Global Call To Action

Moving Ahead: Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Globally

In 2018, the world was experiencing a 30-year high in violent conflict. Unfortunately, subsequent significant crises are compounding and increasing fragility, conflict, and atrocities, including large-scale wars in Ukraine, Sudan, and Israel-Gaza, climate change, food insecurity, and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, more than 130.8 million stateless and forcibly displaced people are expected to need UN support in 2024 and an estimated 300 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection globally. As of early 2024, 30 countries are at risk of new mass killings, democracies are backsliding globally, and unchecked proliferation of powerful emerging technologies like AI is radically reshaping the world’s economies and societies.

The Ukraine crisis once again demonstrates the need for a fundamental shift in international development, peace and security, and diplomacy efforts to focus on conflict and atrocities prevention and peacebuilding instead of crisis response. As recognized by the Global Fragility Act (GFA), WPS Act and Agenda, the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, and the World Bank Strategy for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence, peacebuilding activities are vital to addressing conflict drivers to prevent and end violence. The game-changing prevention approaches outlined in these laws and policies have the potential to center conflict prevention and peacebuilding in international development and diplomacy. In doing so, the need for costlier security interventions and emergency humanitarian responses will be dramatically reduced. However, these laws and policies must be fully funded to be successful.

Unfortunately, there have been significant delays and under-resourcing in implementing the GFA, the WPS Act, and other prevention-oriented initiatives. As per the law, a global fragility strategy and the selection of five priority countries and regions were due to Congress in September 2020. The U.S. Government released a global strategy in December 2020. The list of priority countries and region were only released on April 1, 2022, and the 10-year implementation plans were transmitted to Congress on March 24, 2023. While there will always be competing crises at home and abroad, the GFA is the best tool to reduce violent conflict globally and prevent it from breaking out in the first place. We urge the Biden Administration to work closely with international and local civil society and stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the GFA, integrate conflict prevention within all U.S. foreign assistance, and scale the approaches embodied within the GFA globally. New humanitarian and security crises will always serve as a reminder of the necessity of conflict and atrocity prevention, which by their very nature avoid costly interventions after a full-brown crisis has begun.

As we work to make this much-needed shift to prevention, we must also acknowledge the disparity of the global response to Ukraine versus other conflicts. While the crisis in Ukraine involves nuclear threats and profound implications for economic and geopolitical stability, the international community must reflect on how it addressed and continues to respond to other conflicts including Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Yemen. In the future, donors, governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and civil society collectively must mobilize with equal empathy and resolve to promote peace, protect civilians, seek accountability for violations of human rights and international law, and provide adequate relief to all those in need regardless of identity or where they live.

Finally, as the world watches Ukrainians defend their country, Americans must commit to defending and renewing their democracy, preventing violent conflict, and building peace at home and abroad. President Biden rightfully observed that "more than half of all democracies have experienced a decline in at least one aspect of their democracy over the last 10 years, including the United States.“ We urgently call on the U.S. Government to propose new and robust resources for programs in the U.S. that address conflict dynamics, including preventing and reducing violent extremism and building social cohesion.