The Alliance for Peacebuilding's Briefing Book for the 119th Congress

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), a network of 235+ organizations working to prevent violent conflict and build sustainable peace in 181 countries, recognizes that these are extraordinary times with significant cuts to U.S. foreign aid. AfP has long been a proponent of reforming diplomacy and foreign assistance, and championed major innovations through laws such as the Global Fragility Act (GFA). In rebuilding the U.S. foreign policy and assistance aperture, Congress must advance reform-focused laws that prioritize and integrate conflict prevention and peacebuilding, like the GFA, become centered to ensure the U.S. is safer, stronger, and more prosperous. We urge the 119th Congress to robustly fund, champion, and provide oversight of key peacebuilding and prevention laws and accounts and ensure conflict prevention expertise is retained at the Department of State.

Policy Action, Policy and AdvocacyNick ZuroskiMay 22, 2025Policy Brief, AfP, 2025

Sign-On Letter by PPWG to Secretary of State Marco Rubio Urging Prioritization of Atrocity Prevention During the Reorganization of the Department of State

On May 15th, PPWG AfP sent a letter from the Prevention and Protection Working Group (PPWG) to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to prioritize atrocity prevention during the reorganization of the Department. At a time of record-breaking levels of violent conflict and rising mass atrocities, the proposed reorganization of the Department concerningly eliminates or downsizes several key offices and bureaus that are central to the successful implementation of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act (EWGAPA), which Secretary Rubio co-sponsored and President Trump signed into law. Dismantling or deprioritizing the atrocities prevention and accountability offices and bureaus and terminating their experts will dramatically undermine the ability of the U.S. Government to implement EWGAPA and effectively respond to destabilizing mass atrocities and grave human rights abuses globally.

Policy Action, Policy and AdvocacyNick ZuroskiMay 15, 2025Policy Brief, AfP, 2025

Sign-On Letter by AfP to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on State Department Reorganization

On April 30th, in light of the proposed reorganization of the State Department by the Trump Administration, AfP sent a letter signed by 24 other organizations to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to retain conflict experts, ensure a clear and dedicated entity charged with implementing key prevention laws, and robustly integrate conflict prevention and peacebuilding throughout all assistance and diplomacy in conflict-affected and fragile states.

Policy Action, Policy and AdvocacyGuest UserApril 30, 2025Policy Brief, AfP, 2025

Status Quo No More: How the New Administration Can Prevent and Resolve Conflict

Centering 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.

Policy Action, Policy and AdvocacyGuest UserDecember 10, 2024Policy Brief, AfP, 2024

2024 PPWG Assessment of USG Atrocity Prevention Efforts

The 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.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionAfP AdminOctober 15, 2024Afghanistan, AfP, Policy Brief, 2024

Marking 3 Years of Taliban Oppression: Statement from the U.S. Policy Advocates for Afghan Women and Girls

Three 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.

Policy and Advocacy, Press ReleaseGuest UserAugust 19, 2024Policy Brief, AfP, Afghanistan, 2024

AfP's Call to Action: Israel-Palestine

The 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.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiJuly 3, 2024AfP, Policy Brief

Our Clarifying Moment: A Global Call to Action

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), the leading nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 200+ members operating in 181 countries working to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, urges the international community to seize this clarifying moment surrounding the conflict in Ukraine to reimagine our approach to ending violent conflict and building peace in Ukraine and around the world.

The resounding condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine provides a momentous opportunity for global unity and once again demonstrates the need for a fundamental change to foreign policy—one that pivots toward conflict prevention and peacebuilding in international development assistance, security, and diplomacy. Donors, governments, civil society, and individuals are vital to this global movement and all citizens and sectors can be advocates for a more peaceful world. With a unified voice, we must call for de-escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities, continued, inclusive diplomacy, unimpeded humanitarian and peacebuilding assistance, and, most importantly, support for and protection of the Ukrainian people.

Policy and Advocacy, Policy ActionNick ZuroskiFebruary 29, 2024AfP, Policy Brief