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Peace and Pandemics

Stories of resilience from USIP's global network of peacebuilders

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As the world grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, inspirational stories of on-the-ground peacebuilding, nonviolent activism, and community leadership are all the more valuable—as practical examples for other peacebuilders around the world, as reaffirmations of USIP’s commitment to our core mission, and as beacons of hope and progress in a turbulent time.

Read USIP expert's analysis of the intersections between the coronavirus pandemic and conflict »

A student participates in a discussion during a gender ethics class at the University of Maiduguri, in Nigeria, Dec. 2, 2017. (Adam Ferguson/The New York Times)

Nigeria: Police in Jos Adapt to COVID-Driven Rise in Sexual Violence

Dialogues bring together police and community to devise approaches for addressing gender-based violence amid the pandemic.
In Caracas in 2017, Maria (left) and colleagues in the Green Cross Brigade rush to help a person injured by riot police during mass protests against the government. (Manuel Rivas)

COVID Menaces Venezuela, Medical Students Respond

Amid conflict and a shattered health system, medical students build healing and unity.
Tunisians wait in line to enter a grocery store amid COVID-19 lockdown measures. March 27, 2020. (Brahim Guedich/Wikimedia Commons)

Preventing Conflict During the Pandemic in Southern Tunisia

As tensions flared over lockdown measures, local peacebuilders help rebuild trust between citizens and government.
South Sudanese children carry water for their families at sunset in a camp for people displaced by warfare. About 39 percent of South Sudan’s 11 million people have been uprooted amid the country’s violence. (www.geoffpugh.com/Flickr)

In South Sudan, Civic Activists Take On COVID

Amid violence and weak governance, local groups organize against the virus—and for a sustainable peace.
Students participate in distance learning during the pandemic, April 28, 2020. USIP’s Peace Teachers have had to pivot to new forms of teaching like this as social distancing protocols are being observed. (Department of Defense)

Amid the Pandemic, Teaching Peace Remains Vital

Two USIP Peace Teachers explain how, amid global turmoil, the lessons of peacebuilding can inspire students to build a better world.
Gatwal Gatkuoth asks advice from the Dalai Lama on building peace amid civil war. Gatkuoth was among 25 young peacebuilders from nations facing violence who were hosted by USIP in 2017 for a dialogue with the religious leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

An African Activist Builds Peace with Youth—and Refugees

But Uganda’s progressive refugee policies face financial pressures, and now COVID.
Justice and Security Dialogue participants in Casamance pose after the first dialogue session, March 5, 2020. (Pierre Ndecky/USIP)

In Casamance, Dialogue Helps Battle Coronavirus and Build Trust

Decades of conflict in the Senegalese region have led to damaged security-civilian relations—but that’s changing at just the right time.
A vital highway for western Libya climbs the escarpment from Arab-populated plains to the ethnic Amazigh city of Nalut. Libyan civic leaders, supported by USIP, are working to end years of conflict between the two locales. (Anchishkyn/CC License 3.0)

Amid Libyan Crisis, Two Hostile Towns Build a Basis for Peace

Old foes in the mountains find a way to cooperate, despite land disputes, civil war and COVID.

Generation Change Fellows: Action for Change Amid the Pandemic

USIP's Generation Change Fellows program connects young leaders worldwide with the peacebuilding training and global community they need to help transform their communities. Amid the pandemic, many of these fellows have used skills and resources from the program to find creative ways to take action for change.

Rebecca Jibi

Rebecca Jibi

In South Sudan, Rebecca’s media campaign shares COVID-19 preventive measures with her community.
Reech Malual

Reech Malual

Reech counters hate speech in South Sudan with social media campaigns like this video.
Tunde Ogunyale

Tunde Ogunyale

In Nigeria, Tunde is using social media to inspire growth and reflection in others throughout the pandemic
Daniella Liendo

Daniella Liendo

Daniella virtually connects patients and medical specialists in Venezuela and helps provide meals for healthcare workers
Faten Khalfallah Hammouda

"Extend Your Hand to Save Our Land"

Generation Change Fellow

Faten Khalfallah Hammouda’s “Extend your hand to save our land” initiative has helped create over 1,300 protective face shields, masks and medical gowns for hospitals in Tunisia through 3D printing. “The skills I gained from the leadership training and conflict resolution have helped me a lot,” Faten said of our Generation Change Fellowship Program.

Latest Publications

Mirna Galic on NATO’s Long-standing Engagement in the Indo-Pacific

Mirna Galic on NATO’s Long-standing Engagement in the Indo-Pacific

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

By: Mirna Galic

Contrary to China’s assertions, NATO has a long history of engagement with the Indo-Pacific. But the alliance’s deep partnerships in the region have taken on renewed importance in recent years amid Russia’s war on Ukraine and renewed strategic competition between the U.S. and China, says USIP’s Mirna Galic.

Type: Podcast

China Forces Myanmar Scam Syndicates to Move to Thai Border

China Forces Myanmar Scam Syndicates to Move to Thai Border

Monday, April 22, 2024

By: Jason Tower ;   Priscilla A. Clapp

While Myanmar has long been the chief venue for the criminal operations of Chinese-origin gangs in Southeast Asia, these organizations have always stood ready to move — internally or across borders — if their sources of protection dissolved. In recent months, the organized crime kingpins have once again faced a fraying safety net. This time, the cause is the weakening of Myanmar’s corrupt coup regime in the face of a rising, multi-front revolution and, perhaps more importantly, an aggressive push by China’s law enforcement authorities.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

For Peace in Africa, Boost Regional Blocs — Like West Africa’s ECOWAS

For Peace in Africa, Boost Regional Blocs — Like West Africa’s ECOWAS

Friday, April 19, 2024

By: Joseph Sany, Ph.D.

As the United States and international partners work to stabilize Africa’s Sahel region — and to prevent its warfare, violent extremism and armed coups from metastasizing into Africa’s densely populous and strategic Atlantic coast — the West African multinational bloc, ECOWAS, has proven its value in resolving crises and promoting stability. Yet, as global security threats have evolved, ECOWAS, like other multinational bodies, needs updated capacities to meet new challenges. International democracies’ most effective initiative to support West Africa’s stability would be to partner with West Africans to strengthen their vital regional community. A similar strategy is valid across Africa.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance;  Global Policy

Sometimes the Good Guys Win: Guatemala's Kleptocracy Fights Back

Sometimes the Good Guys Win: Guatemala's Kleptocracy Fights Back

Thursday, April 18, 2024

By: Ambassador Stephen G. McFarland

Last year was a pivotal moment for Guatemala’s democracy. Longshot candidate Bernardo Arévalo rode popular anti-corruption fervor into a shocking second place finish in the first-round presidential polls, ultimately winning the presidency in the runoff. Since Guatemala transitioned to a democracy in the mid-1980s, the country has been wracked by increasingly pervasive corruption, perpetrated and perpetuated by venal elites.

Type: Analysis

Democracy & Governance;  Global Elections & Conflict

Four Priorities for Sudan a Year into the Civil War

Four Priorities for Sudan a Year into the Civil War

Thursday, April 18, 2024

By: Susan Stigant

This week marks a year of war in Sudan. A once promising revolution that led to the overthrow in 2019 of the country’s longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir, has devolved into a devastating civil war. The fighting started over a dispute on how to incorporate the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the country’s military, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). A year later as the conflict between the RSF and SAF grinds on, Sudan is experiencing the world’s worst displacement crisis and one of the world’s worst hunger crises in recent history.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy;  Peace Processes

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