Alliance for Peacebuilding
Encyclopedia
Alliance for Peacebuilding is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership organization based in Washington, DC. The stated mission of the Alliance for Peacebuilding is to build sustainable peace and security worldwide. The organization states that its goals are:

• To initiate, develop and support collaborative action among governmental, nongovernmental, and intergovernmental organizations to prevent and resolve destructive conflicts.

• To build understanding of and support for peacebuilding policies and programs among leaders in government, business, media, philanthropy, religion, and other sectors of civil society.

• To increase the effectiveness of the peacebuilding field by developing networks, disseminating best practices, and enhancing organizational capacities and professional skills.

History and Purpose

The Alliance for Peacebuilding began in 1999 as a network of conflict prevention and resolution organizations. This first incarnation was ACRON (Applied Conflict Resolution Organization Network) which later became AICPR (Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution). The alliance was formed because the field of international conflict resolution had become too competitive, atomized, and ineffectively organized. In an attempt to counter this, a strong umbrella organization, ACRON, was made to help to support collaborative and, thus, more effective peacebuilding. It also served to provide a strong voice for the field and help members share information and approaches.

After receiving a grant from the Hewlett Foundation, the organization was incorporated in 2003 as the Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution. Through additional funding from the Hewlett Foundation, it hired staff and opened an office in Washington, DC, and developed programs.

In 2006 the Alliance for Peacebuilding formally came into being after a rebranding of AICPR. With a new mission and goals, the Alliance for Peacebuilding placed a much greater emphasis on the collaborative actions that could be performed to prevent and mitigate violent conflicts. In doing this, the organization opened up membership to organizations worldwide. Currently, the Alliance for Peacebuilding plays a vital role in developing and disseminating unique approaches to peacebuilding through its global network. These approaches focus on collaboration between conflict resolution organizations and organizations in the fields of development, relief, human rights, and security.

Programs and Partners

The Alliance for Peacebuilding, with financial support from board member Milt Lauenstein and in partnership with a Switzerland-based organization called swisspeace, launched the BEFORE Project. BEFORE uses a unique combination of principles and tactics to prevent widespread political violence in fragile states. Currently, BEFORE conducts a regular Conflict and Peace Monitoring Survey for West Africa and has two violence prevention projects in the West African countries of Guinea-Bissau and Guinea - where BEFORE and its local partners played a role in the country’s first fair and peaceful elections in June 2010. The Alliance for Peacebuilding has partnered with the United States Institute of Peace
United States Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace was created by Congress as a non-partisan, federal institution that works to prevent or end violent conflict around the world...

 on the Peacebuilding Evaluation Project to improve evaluation and practice in the field.

In 2007, the Alliance for Peacebuilding established a strategic partnership with the Global Peace Index
Global Peace Index
The Global Peace Index is an attempt to measure the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. It is the product of Institute for Economics and Peace and developed in consultation with an international panel of peace experts from peace institutes and think tanks with data collected...

 (GPI) to further its commitment to innovation in peace research and to reach a wide audience outside of the peacebuilding community. Produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace
Institute for Economics and Peace
The Institute for Economics and Peace , chaired by entrepreneur Steve Killelea, is a global non-profit research organization headquartered in Sydney, Australia with a branch in New York...

, the GPI is a study that measures the peacefulness of countries and identifies the drivers of peace. In 2009 the Alliance for Peacebuilding partnered with the J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center
J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center
The J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to "...foster peace and justice through collaboration." The center is not related to the Fulbright Scholarship Program, aside from the Fulbright Name. The center was...

 to host the Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations. Countries were honored for being peaceful; the result has been a continued international communication around peacebuilding.

AfP and the 3D Security Initiative work together to educate members of Congress and the current administration on peacebuilding policies and programs. The partnership promotes a US Government commitment to peacebuilding initiatives. Currently they are working on building peacebuilding language into the Foreign Assistance Act
Foreign Assistance Act
The Foreign Assistance Act is a United States Act of Congress. The Act reorganized the structure of existing U.S. foreign assistance programs, separated military from non-military aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development to administer those...

 alongside the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Additional partnerships include, The People's Peace Fund to support joint Palestinian and Israeli peace initiatives, Peace Through Moderation to address the threats posed by extremism, and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum which presents monthly programs for the peacebuilding community.

Founding Members and Chief Executives

Paula Gutlove

Andrea Strimling

David Fairman

Hrach Gregorian
Hrach Gregorian
Hrach Gregorian, PhD. is an American political consultant, educator, and writer. His work in both the private and public sectors has been mainly focused in the field of international conflict management and post-conflict peacebuilding...



Donna Hicks

Robert Ricigliano

Peter Woodrow

Chic Dambach, President and CEO (2005–present)

Bill Stuebner, Executive Director (2003–2005)

Advisory Board

Melanie Greenberg

Nancy Bearg

Jim Click

Jan Eliasson
Jan Eliasson
Jan Kenneth Eliasson is a Swedish diplomat and Social Democratic politician.- Biography :Jan Eliasson was born in a working-class family in Gothenburg. He was an AFS exchange student in Indiana, United States, from 1957 to 1958 and was commissioned reserve officer after military training at the...



Harriet Fulbright

John Garamendi
John Garamendi
John Raymond Garamendi is the U.S. Representative for , serving since November 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Garamendi was the California State Insurance Commissioner from 1991 to 1995, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 to 1998, and the California State Insurance...



Libby Hoffman

Shamil Idriss

Ambassador Kenton Keith

Steve Killelea
Steve Killelea
Stephen Killelea AM is an Australian IT entrepreneur. He began his career, after doing a crash course in computing and working for a computer manufacturer, by developing a product for computer systems management that became internationally successful and led him to set up a US company, Software...



Gordon Radley

External links

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