Human Rights
Human rights abuses can spur violent conflict, or vice-versa. Effective protection of human rights underpins the legitimate governance and rule of law that establish the conditions for a state to resolve conflicts and grievances without violence. The U.S. Institute of Peace provides grants, fellowships, education and publications to deepen understanding of the critical role of human rights protection in preventing and managing violence.
Featured Publications
Myanmar’s Criminal Zones: A Growing Threat to Global Security
International media and law enforcement are waking up to a new post-COVID trend in transnational crime: the proliferation of criminally run zones in Myanmar and across Southeast Asia, and an explosion of human trafficking for labor in these ungoverned enclaves.
Want more accountability for the Taliban? Give more money for human rights monitoring.
Ahead of the U.N. General Assembly last week, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett released his first report grading the Taliban’s treatment of Afghans’ rights. It was an F. In the past year, the Taliban have engaged in a full-scale assault on Afghan’s human rights, denying women access to public life, dismantling human rights institutions, corrupting independent judicial processes, and engaging in extralegal measures to maintain control or to exact revenge for opposition to their rule. That is one of the main reasons — along with their continued support of al-Qaida and a refusal to form a more inclusive government — that Afghanistan has no representation at the U.N.
Four Ways to Include Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Atrocity Prevention
Conflict-related sexual violence is not only an indicator of rising atrocity risk — it can also constitute an atrocity crime itself. And while the U.S. government has implemented conflict-related sexual violence response efforts, concurrent international efforts on the issue offer a solid foundation for the United States to go beyond responding to these crimes and toward prevention.
Current Projects
Peace and Security Issues in Africa-China Economic Relations
Much of the research that has been conducted on the impact of China’s economic engagement with Africa has focused on their economic exchanges and security engagements in isolation of one another. But few have sought to understand the interconnections between these themes. These interconnections matter, as some Chinese firms are responsible for environmental degradation, population displacement, corruption and illegal extraction activities — all of which are factors that can drive conflict.
Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (JDEIA) Initiative
The field of peacebuilding is based upon principles of justice, diversity, equity and inclusion (JDEI). However, peacebuilding organizations are often asked to operate in contexts rooted in systemic injustice and inequity. This can jeopardizing an organization’s ability to embody and implant JDEI values — as well as affect their impact and effectiveness, their stakeholder engagement and their understanding of how unconscious bias can permeate an organization’s programming. Launched in Spring 2021, USIP’s JDEI Initiative cooperates with civil society and U.S. government leaders to host workshops and public events, conduct research, and engage with partners around the world to further the embedment of JDEI in peacebuilding practices.
Missing Peace Initiative on Preventing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
Initiated in 2012, the Missing Peace Initiative is a partnership bringing together policymakers, practitioners and junior and senior scholars who are working on the issue of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. Together, these individuals identify gaps in knowledge and reporting and explore how to increase the effectiveness of current responses to such violence. Since 2013, the Missing Peace Scholars Network has ensured that this research is communicated cogently to policymakers by producing annual special reports intended to produce meaningful change regarding acts of conflict-related sexual violence.