As a national, nonpartisan, independent Institute, the U.S. Institute of Peace draws on our exceptional convening power to create opportunities for diverse audiences to exchange knowledge, experiences, and ideas necessary for creative solutions to difficult challenges. We serve as an important, neutral platform for bringing together government and nongovernment, diplomacy, security, and development actors, and participants across political views. The Institute’s events help shape public policy and priorities to advance peaceful solutions to conflict and strengthen international security.
The U.S. Institute of Peace and His Holiness the Dalai Lama have joined to strengthen the abilities of youth leaders to build peace in the world’s most violent regions. On October 23 and 24, 2019, USIP and the Dalai Lama hosted a fourth annual dialogue with 28 youth peacebuilders from 12 countries across the globe.
Young people are hungry for examples of people working for peace in some of the world’s most violent conflicts, and they are curious about ways they too can make a positive difference. Join us on July 12 as USIP’s current Peace Teachers reflect on their year providing students with the tools to have an impact on their community—and the world—through peacebuilding.
Join USIP and the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security for an interactive, intergenerational conversation with the study’s lead author, Graeme Simpson, as well as youth and peacebuilding experts and young peacebuilders from around the world.
Please join the U.S. Institute of Peace on December 12 for a streamed forum with thought leader and youth leader participants from USIP’s Generation Change Exchange with His Holiness the Dalai Lama as they share their expertise, discuss what it takes to build inner resilience and, crucially, examine how to strategically apply it to peacebuilding.
On September 14, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), a Geneva-based training arm of the United Nations, and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), an independent institute dedicated to the elimination of violent conflict, convened a strategic group of stakeholders to explore concrete ways the international community can support wider and more meaningful engagement of youth in peacebuilding.
On July 18th, the U.S. Institute of Peace held a panel discussion to examine the state of Pakistan’s youth and their potential impact on upcoming elections and democracy.
Violent extremism has become one of the major challenges to stability in fragile states, characterized by weak, non-inclusive institutions, and lack of economic opportunity. Youth are often perceived as particularly vulnerable to recruitment into extremist groups. The U.S. Institute of Peace has funded several impact evaluations of peacebuilding interventions over the last few years, including two rigorous evaluations of Mercy Corps’ youth programming in Afghanistan and Somalia aimed at reducing support for armed opposition groups.
The psychosocial impact of the Syrian conflict is less often acknowledged, but could have a lasting impact on the ability of Syrian civilians to recover and build a more peaceful future and possibly lead to a lost generation of Syrian children. Please join USIP and specialists from the Syrian American Medical Society, the U.S State Department and Save the Children for a panel discussion, addressing an aspect of the Syrian conflict that often receives less attention than it deserves.
On November 17, USIP held Facebook Live forum with youth leaders who build peace, some despite personal traumas, in homelands facing violent conflicts. This forum originated from Dharamsala, India, where these 25 youth leaders shared their experiences with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
On November 16, the U.S. Institute of Peace and NAFSA: Association of International Educators held a discussion of how international education can strengthen diplomacy and contribute to peacebuilding.