AfP Calls for a Bold, Fit-For-Purpose Conflict Prevention Strategy on the One-Year Anniversary of the Trump Administration's Foreign Assistance Freeze
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2026
CONTACT
Nick Zuroski | nick@allianceforpeacebuilding.org
Washington, DC, USA — It has been one year since President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) that laid the groundwork for massive cuts to U.S. foreign assistance. But the U.S. did not act alone; other major donors, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, also slashed development assistance, including peacebuilding programming—all while global violent conflict is at record-breaking levels and increasing and global military spending is skyrocketing. The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) calls on the U.S. and international community to robustly prioritize and fund peacebuilding, as well as integrate peacebuilding across all foreign assistance programs and policies, to create a fit-for-purpose conflict prevention strategy that meets the fast-changing, turbulent needs of today.
Unfortunately, the draconian cuts to peacebuilding programs are exacerbating violence, conflict, and instability globally. In Nigeria, inter-ethnic violence is rising after the termination of conflict prevention programs, including training of community elders on conflict resolution, and the elimination of early warning systems. In Uganda, slashed governance programs hollowed out civic participation networks in the lead-up to the country’s recent elections, which were marred by violence and voter intimidation. The withdrawal of refugee support in Bangladesh and Myanmar exacerbated extremism and accelerated the exploitation of women and children in Rohingya refugee camps. In Mozambique, ISIS is surging in the wake of shuttered countering violent extremism and Global Fragility Act (GFA) programming. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the cancellation of programs promoting livelihoods and addressing critical minerals as a driver of conflict is undermining stability, weakening local buy-in for conflict prevention, and threatening the success of U.S.-led peace efforts. In Colombia, violent cartels are emboldened following the elimination of rule-of-law programs that built local counter-narcotics capacity and steered at-risk populations away from gang recruitment.
AfP urges the U.S. Government and the entire international community to meet the moment by prioritizing conflict prevention and peacebuilding in foreign policy and assistance. A peace-and-security-forward strategy integrating peacebuilding and prevention, centering local stakeholders, and reflecting on hard-learned lessons of the past is vital if we want to begin to tackle the alarming levels of global violent conflict. A first start is for the U.S. Government to robustly implement bipartisan, reform-focused, prevention-oriented laws, including the GFA, the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Act, and the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act. By cutting funding for these laws and assistance that support conflict analysis, early warning, mediation and negotiations support, peace accords monitoring, and more, donors are taking away the tools and ability to reduce and prevent violent conflict.
From Africa, to Asia, to South America, it is clear that peacebuilding and prevention programming were making the world more safe and stable. In 2026, we need to begin building a broad, influential movement for peace, define a peacebuilding agenda that world leaders can embrace and enact, and elevate a wider ecosystem of actors who can shape the future of peace and security.
Below, please find quotes from leaders of AfP member organizations reflecting on this moment:
“Across countries where U.S.-funded violence-prevention has proven effective, hard-won gains are now unraveling following the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance. One year on, progress built over decades is being reversed, alongside predictable deterioration in security and rising violence. In cases such as Nigeria and the DRC, the resulting instability has required far more costly diplomatic, military, or humanitarian responses than sustained prevention ever would have. The Administration says it wants to end wars. But peace is built locally, and withdrawing support from the people preventing violence on the ground does not end wars, it accelerates them.”
“One year ago, the Trump Administration made significant cuts to much-needed, life-saving foreign assistance funds. Those cuts forced Nonviolent Peaceforce to halt critical civilian protection programs in Myanmar, leaving civilians in more precarious conditions and fueling rising violence. Cuts to community-focused Department of Justice funding also impacted NP’s U.S. program, halting crucial programming in Minneapolis. The domino effect of these disruptions led to deepened instability in fragile contexts worldwide. While calling for the reinstatement of those funds urgently, we also encourage other countries and institutions globally to step up support for lifesaving protection and violence prevention work, as hundreds of millions of vulnerable people worldwide face further instability.”
“We are seeing the aid cuts hitting people in contexts affected by conflict the hardest—such as in Myanmar, South Sudan, and Yemen—and where climate stressors increase the devastating impact. At a time when humanitarian need and conflict-related deaths have skyrocketed, the United States is turning its back on communities in crisis.”
“Peacebuilding isn’t optional; it’s essential. Many peace activists in the Tanenbaum Peacemakers in Action Network have lost foreign assistance from the U.S., resulting in less education for all, rising instability, humanitarian crises, and a loss of trust due to the disappearance of community programs. The Peacemakers persist, but without support their vital work cannot be sustained.”
“Beginning a year ago, we witnessed the dismantling of USAID, a cornerstone of our nation’s moral commitment to the world’s most vulnerable. Today, the human cost of this decision has left hollow spaces in communities around the world. Over half a million people, the vast majority of them children, have been lost to preventable diseases and malnutrition since these programs were shuttered. Over half a million futures cut short by deliberate decisions made in Washington. While we cannot recover the lives lost, we are not powerless to change our path forward. Congress and the Administration now have a critical opportunity to repair this damage and chart a new way forward—one that recognizes that true security is built on the foundations of peace and justice. As we lament the loss and harm caused by this decision, we recommit ourselves to the urgent task of restoring a foreign policy that honors our shared humanity and learns from past failures.”
“While these funding cuts have obviously had a tremendous impact on the survival of many organizations, they have also amplified the immense pressure that downward funding trends place on the vibrancy and viability of civil society as a whole. The U.S. cuts do not exist in isolation; major EU donors have also reduced foreign aid spending, with plans to scale up defense and military expenditure. This necessitates coordinated advocacy and mobilization among civil society actors in international fora, namely the United Nations, to raise the alarm regarding these downward funding trends, while also strengthening our collective capacity for storytelling, sharing, and learning. This will help us not only highlight how crucial our work is to building a more peaceful, just, and inclusive world, but also allow us to learn from one another’s struggles so that we may deepen our resilience.”
The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), named the “number one influencer and change agent” among peacebuilding institutions worldwide, is an award-winning nonprofit and nonpartisan network of 270+ organizations working in 181 countries to prevent and reduce violent conflict and build sustainable peace. AfP cultivates a network to strengthen and advance the peacebuilding field, enabling peacebuilding organizations to achieve greater impact—tackling issues too large for any one organization to address alone.