How do we make peacebuilding a first-order issue? We know peacebuilding is the answer to conflict—so why do we, as a field, have such a hard time making that case to funders, policymakers, and the public?

In this episode of AfP’s Got Conflict? Let’s Talk Peacebuilding! podcast, AfP’s Executive Director, Liz Hume, sits down with John Marks, founder of Search for Common Ground, to answer these questions and discuss his new book, From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship. In this far-reaching conversation, Marks explores the importance of long-term bridge building, Search’s work in Burundi, peacebuilding in the U.S., and the structural challenges to funding peacebuilding.

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AfP was proud to partner with the Porticus Foundation to implement the program “Enabling Effective Dialogue: Developing Understanding and Effectiveness Measures." The goal of the initiative was to gather and assess the evidence about the effectiveness of interreligious dialogue (IRD) as a peacebuilding approach, and contribute to a strong culture of monitoring, evaluation, and learning across the IRD sector. A key part of this activity was establishing a peer learning community of global south IRD implementers, academia, and diverse NGOs who exchanged insights and best practices in assessing IRD.

Longtime AfP collaborator Saurav Upadhyay was deeply involved in this project from inception. Join AfP’s Michele Piercey in a conversation with Saurav, where he talks about some of the most striking lessons learned from this project, and what he sees as the most promising avenues for further research.

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In 2022, AfP celebrated its 20th anniversary, and today, it is a thriving and robust network of over 200 organizations and more than 30,000 global peacebuilders in 181 countries working to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace.

But how did it all start? Over two decades ago, a small group of visionary peacebuilders established the Alliance for Peacebuilding, officially incorporating it in 2002. These founding leaders knew we needed to work together if we wanted to build and advance the peacebuilding field.

Even though we have made some serious gains as a sector, violent conflict and fragility globally reached a 30-year high in 2018. Unfortunately, conflict and fragility are increasing, issues including climate change are compounding conflict, and we are experiencing democratic backsliding in the global north.

Preventing and reducing global violent conflict and building sustainable peace are some of the most significant challenges of our time, and AfP’s 20th anniversary provides the opportunity to reflect on AfP and where we go from here.

In this episode, host Liz Hume welcomes three leaders in the peacebuilding field who were critical to the founding of AfP:

• Melanie Greenberg, Managing Director for Peacebuilding, Humanity United
• Rob Ricigliano, Systems and Complexity Coach, The Omidyar Group
• Hrach Gregorian, MA International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program Director, American University School of International Service

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