Problem
Power struggles and political priorities trump the need for peace and security worldwide. Local and international conflict is present everywhere in the world, be it in the form of terrorism, nuclear proliferation, civil wars, military intervention, civil unrest or forced displacement [1, 2, 5, 12]. Innocent people are killed, severely injured; they are forced to leave their homes, live in inhumane conditions and under constant threat. No political agenda is more important than human lives, yet in the current state of our world global peace is treated like an unattainable dream. It isn’t.

Facts and Figures

• There has been a steady decline in world peace in the last decade [13].

• By the end of 2019, 79.5 million people were displaced because of conflict[14].

• Up to 90% of war casualties are civilians, mostly women and children [18].    

• Over the past decade, 21,000 people were killed annually by terrorists [19].

By 2030, nearly half of the poor will live in conflict-affected situations [22].

Solution
Peacebuilding, resolving conflicts around the world, is an evolving field of study with diverse approaches [23-25]. As there are many different causes for conflict, there are also many different ways of resolving it. Direct assistance in conflict zones, such as economic and humanitarian aid and providing people with information and development programmes, is a proven effective method [26-29]. Alongside direct assistance, strengthening democratic institutions in conflict zones, implementing inclusive policies and access to justice ensures the sustainability of peacebuilding actions. In this appeal, you’ll find a selected group of top-performing organisations working in all of these fields.

Sources

1. Council on Foreign Affairs: Global Conflict Tracker (link)

2. United Nations - Global Conflict Trends and their Consequences (research paper) 

3. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (link)

4. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project: Ten conflicts to worry about in 2020 (research report) 

5. Our World in Data: Terrorism (link)

6. World Nuclear Association: Nuclear Proliferation Case Studies (report) 

7. The Emerging Great Power Politics and Regionalism: Structuring Effective Regional Conflict Management (research paper) 

8. Mission Impossible: UN Mediation in Libya, Syria and Yemen (research paper) 

9. UN News - ‘Negative forces’ at work in DR Congo threaten ‘largely peaceful’ relations across Great Lakes region, says outgoing UN envoy (article) 

10. Foreign Pressure and the Politics of Autocratic Survival - Chapter 8: Military Intervention and Regime Change (Book)

11. The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: The Failure of Regime‐​Change Operations (Policy Analysis) 

12. The Limitations and Capabilities of the United Nations in Modern Conflict (report) (report in pdf form) 

13. Global Peace Index (report) 

14. United Nations: refugees (link) 

15. Global Relief Web: Global Peace Index (link) 

16. Council on Foreign Relations: War in Afghanistan (link) 

17. Council on Foreign Relations: War in Yemen (link)

18. United Nations: Peace and Security (link) 

19. Our World in Data: Terrorism (link) 

20. Council on Foreign Relations: Isreaeli-Palestinian Conflict (link) 

21. Council on Foreign Relations: Confrontation between the United States and Iran (link)

22. Worldbank: Pathways for Peace (research report) 

23. Peacebuilding Initiative: The conceptual origins of peacebuilding (report) 

24. Peacebuilding Initiative: Introduction to Peacebuilding (link) 

25. Post-conflict peacebuilding revisited: achievements, limitations, challenges (report) 

26. United Nations: Sustainable Development Goals (link)

27. United Nations: Peace (link)

28. Reliefweb - Strategic Security Analysis (report) 

29. International Alert - Conflict, humanitarian assistance and peacebuilding (link) 

30. United Nations: Peacekeeping (link) 

31. United Nations: Military (link)

32. Worldbank: Economic and social policies have a significant role to play in the prevention of violent conflict (blog) 

33. United Nations: Peacebuilding (link) 

34. Peacebuilding Initiative: Introduction: Democracy, Governance & Peacebuilding (link) 

Extra sources:  

• United Nations Development Programme: Inclusive political processes (link) 

• UNESCO: UNESCO highlights link between media, journalism and peace-building on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists in Doha (link) 

• Peacebuilding Initiative: Public Information & Media Development: Public Information, Media Development & Peacebuilding Processes (link) 

• United Nations Development Programme: Conflict prevention, peacebuilding and responsive institutions (link)