Religion and Peacemaking

Supporting Religious Communities in the Work of Peacemaking

Muslim women at the market, Zanzibar (Credit: World Bank/Scott Wallace)

Center Highlights

Featured Resources & Tools

Leadership

David Smock (Photo: USIP)
Vice President, Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation

Center Specialists

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Program Officer, Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation
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Senior Program Officer, Religion and Peacemaking Center of Innovation
The Religion and Peacemaking program conducts research, identifies best practices, and develops new peacebuilding tools for religious leaders and organizations; helps define and shape the field of religious peacebuilding; and in cooperation with USIP's other Centers, develops and implements integrated strategies for the Institute's conflict-specific work, including projects with religious communities in zones of conflict.

 

Work in Zones of Conflict

  • Pakistan - USIP is working with ulama and madrassa administrators in Pakistan to prepare teaching modules for madrassas on subjects relating to peace, tolerance, and pluralism.
  • Afghanistan - Working with a local partner, USIP is building the conflict management skills of religious scholars in the Islamic tradition.
  • Iran - As a means of promoting peace between our two countries and enhancing peacemaking skills, USIP is helping to organize exchanges between American Muslims and their Iranian counterparts.
  • Iraq - USIP is working with the Council of Representatives' Religious Affairs Committee to support religious reconciliation and pluralism throughout Iraq. 
  • Colombia - To encourage ecumenical collaboration to broaden and strengthen religious peacemaking, we are working with Catholic and Protestant organizations to support the peace work of women. 
  • Sri Lanka - USIP is supporting efforts to train religious leadership from each of Sri Lanka's four main religious communities in conflict transformation theory, and to support their efforts in implementing local peace projects.
  • Northern Uganda - USIP has commissioned an Ethiopian expert on post-conflict reconciliation to advise Acholi religious leaders on how they can promote reconciliation in northern Uganda now that the war is winding down.