The United Nations has declared a priority this year to unify and strengthen its work in building peace—and U.N. bodies will meet in the next two months to advance that change. U.N. leaders have acknowledged that a vital element in peacebuilding is nonviolent, grassroots movements that can prevent violent conflict by providing ways for people to constructively address grievances, seek rights and advance justice. But as the United Nations aims to more efficiently promote peace, how prepared is it to actually work with the nonviolent grassroots movements that have proven to be peacebuilding’s most effective tool? The answer to that is unclear, but the U.N. system could take a few steps during and after its high-level meetings this spring to strengthen this neglected part of its peacebuilding strategy.

A line of people ready to vote in Liberia

As professionals who work to build peace are aware, nonviolent movements are consistently more effective than armed action at preventing crises and creating sustainably stable societies. Citizen movements have used vigils, marches, demonstrations, sit-ins, boycotts and the like to enforce civil rights in the United States, stop warfare in Liberia and attack systemic corruption in the Philippines and Burkina Faso. This collective action, by broad coalitions rooted in their communities, achieves success primarily through their size and diversity—that is, their inclusiveness.

Exclusion drives conflict and violence. Inclusion drives peace.

Global institutions have taken notice. A recent report by the United Nations and World Bank, titled Pathways for Peace, highlights the role nonviolent civic movements have played in advancing human rights and addressing grievances that fuel violent conflict. The report is one of many to make the case that bottom-up organizing is essential to sustaining the peace.

That recognition is timely, for the United Nations is currently trying to overhaul the way it advances peace in a violent world. In April it will hold a high-level conference on that effort that the General Assembly president, Miroslav Lajcak, acknowledged in January must produce results. “One thing is for certain: this cannot be ‘just another’ U.N. event,” he said. “We need to learn new information, and hear stories from the ground.”

In a discussion of the changes the United Nations should seek, Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a report, Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, urging the U.N. system to adopt more inclusive approaches and consult with civil society institutions to strengthen its peacebuilding work. But the report makes no mention of the United Nations or governments engaging with the informal, grassroots movements that so often drive peaceful change.

Concrete Steps for U.N. Change

Here are a few ways the United Nations and its member states could strengthen its approach.

U.N. headquarters and field offices should engage a broader range of groups by including those beyond the circle of formal, registered non-government organizations (NGOs). These could include community-based groups, professional associations, inter-religious groups, and artist collectives. U.N. offices should prioritize invitations to grassroots activists and peacebuilders (versus outside “experts”) to join dialogue at high-level events.

Officials should also prioritize civil society engagement beyond national capitals, in regions where change often starts. U.N. offices can better engage local movements and networks by “mapping” and analyzing them with national and local partners. A good starting point can be to ask local community members about who is doing good work and who can lead and mobilize volunteers.

The United Nations, through its in-country work, should encourage governments to directly engage communities at their countries’ grassroots. The Guterres report urges a more intensive U.N. engagement at the level of communities, calling it a “critical component of sustaining peace.” This step should include prioritizing the work of the civil affairs officers at U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world. It should promote the building of relationships—with local communities, and among governments, formal NGOs and grassroots civic actors. That task should be shared among the U.N. Development Program, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Office of Peacebuilding Support and Department of Political Affairs.

The United States and other countries can offer diplomatic and financial backing to two specific efforts, led by the secretary-general, to improve the United Nations’ peacebuilding work. One effort would place a greater priority on preventive work to stop conflicts from sliding into violence. The other effort, closely related, would concentrate more on sustaining peace in any country at risk for violence by strengthening its social contract between government and society.

As the U.S. government pursues reforms in United Nations peacekeeping operations, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley last year voiced support for doing so “in the larger context of sustaining peace.” That expression of support is a step in the right direction, but a durable U.S. financial commitment would help incentivize the changes within the United Nations that can embolden local activists and peacebuilders from conflict zones like Syria and South Sudan.

Finally, the United Nations should promote an environment that lets people organize and address grievances nonviolently. Authoritarianism is on the rise globally. As governments crack down on civil society through repressive laws on NGOs and targeted attacks on activists and peacebuilders, it has never been more important to protect the rights to peaceful assembly and association. The U.N. General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on Sustaining Peace in April should address concrete ways to keep civic space open and thus strengthen pathways for peace. That meeting could start by getting member states to recognize that nonviolent movements dedicated to fundamental human rights are a healthy part of a democracy and a sign of a society committed to positive peace. It could also provide more opportunities for grassroots activists to address and engage in U.N. high-level meetings and forums.

Successful nonviolent movements are inclusive and participatory. They can prevent violent conflict by providing ways for people to constructively address injustice and seek rights, and they can help mitigate violence if a conflict breaks out. As the body responsible for setting global standards in peacebuilding, the United Nations must underscore the value of nonviolent grassroots movements working to advance justice and a more peaceful world.

Related Publications

How Nelson Mandela’s Legacy Still Resonates for Youth Movements

How Nelson Mandela’s Legacy Still Resonates for Youth Movements

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

By: Miranda Rivers

As December marks 10 years since the passing of Nelson Mandela, an icon of 20th-century struggles for justice and peace, a new generation of activists is building from his legacy to counter our 21st-entury crises of rising global violence. Among the signs of Mandela’s vital relevance for us now is a global, online conference to bolster nonviolent social action in pursuit of justice and peace that opens December 7, hosted by the Stanford University-based World House Project with partner groups from South Africa, India, Mexico and elsewhere.

Type: Analysis

Nonviolent Action

USIP’s Mandela Series

USIP’s Mandela Series

Friday, November 3, 2023

By: Ambassador Johnnie Carson

After spending 27 years in prison, many expected Nelson Mandela to emerge as a man full of bitterness and anger toward those who had imprisoned him. Instead, he emerged as a towering figure of peace and justice whose own self-sacrifice and leadership were instrumental in ending the brutal apartheid system in South Africa. USIP’s Ambassador Johnnie Carson discusses the Institute’s new Mandela Series — a collection of lectures and seminars from notable peacebuilders that celebrates Mandela’s life and explores how his legacy can guide those seeking a better, more peaceful future.

Type: Blog

Nonviolent ActionPeace Processes

Overcoming the Challenges of Transitional Mobilization

Overcoming the Challenges of Transitional Mobilization

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

By: Suha Hassen;  Jonathan Pinckney

Nonviolent action can be a powerful way to bring about peaceful transitions from autocratic rule to democracy. But even when initially successful, movement leaders often face significant challenges, from frustrations that grievances are not addressed quickly enough to counterrevolutions aimed at restoring the authoritarian status quo. This report examines two recent transitions—the 2011 Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and Armenia’s 2018 Velvet Revolution—and presents recommendations for improving the likelihood that change initiated through nonviolent action leads to robust and lasting democracy.

Type: Peaceworks

Nonviolent Action

The Latest @ USIP: Russia’s Indigenous People Protest the War in Ukraine

The Latest @ USIP: Russia’s Indigenous People Protest the War in Ukraine

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

By: Vera Solovyeva

Despite U.N. protections for Indigenous people, Russian law does not offer recognition to many of its Indigenous communities — making it difficult for them to assert and protect their rights. Vera Solovyeva, a researcher at George Mason University, discusses the various challenges facing Indigenous peoples in Russia, why Indigenous women and mothers are protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine, and what she believes is the path toward peace.

Type: Blog

Human RightsNonviolent Action

View All Publications