No Time to Wait: Congress Must Substantially Fund Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention in the United States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28th, 2022
CONTACT
Nick Zuroski | (202) 822-2047 | nick@allianceforpeacebuilding.org
Washington, D.C., USA. – The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), the leading nonpartisan global peacebuilding network of 160+ members working in 181 countries to end violent conflict and build sustainable peace, is pleased that Congress recognized the need to fund U.S. conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs in the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus spending bill. However, the appropriations package failed to sufficiently fund peacebuilding and conflict prevention programming that is greatly needed to rebuild democracy and social cohesion, prevent and reduce conflict, and build sustainable peace in the U.S.
The bill included bright spots for peacebuilding and conflict prevention. For the first time, Congress provided $50 million for the Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative within the Department of Justice (DOJ) and $5 million for DOJ’s Community Approaches to Advancing Justice grants. However, the $5 million figure is much less than the $30 million the House approved in the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Programs FY 2022 appropriations bill to support conflict resolution, mediation, and peacebuilding in local communities.
The bill also either slightly plussed up or kept funding at current levels for existing conflict prevention and peacebuilding programming. The bill included $21 million to support DOJ’s Community Relations Service (CRS), an increase from $18 million in FY21, but less than the AfP recommended $50 million needed to rebuild it. Funding also increased for the Department of Education’s American History and Civics and Education program to $7.75 million, up from $5.3 million in FY21.
The Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) grants appropriation in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) v remained stagnant from FY21 at $20 million. AfP members received this vital prevention funding for programs that raise social awareness, promote civic engagement, build youth resilience, and develop threat assessment and bystander training from Texas to Portland. More funding is essential to build on the success of these programs and address increasing levels of violent extremism in the United States.
Unfortunately, one significant oversight in the bill was the omission of funding for Community Violence Intervention programs through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS must play an increased role through a much-needed shift to a public health model for preventing domestic violent extremism. Additionally, since there is no U.S. peacebuilding agency, Congress must support multiple federal agencies to integrate conflict prevention initiatives in existing programs and ensure interagency coordination.
While there were some positive developments, this funding is insufficient for much-needed bipartisan peacebuilding and conflict prevention programming. For the fifth consecutive year, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) rated the U.S. “a flawed democracy,” its lowest score yet from the EIU, and for the first time, International IDEA added the U.S. to its annual list of "backsliding" democracies. Additionally, AfP and leading global peacebuilding and conflict experts are increasingly concerned about the growing violence, polarization, and extremism in the United States. In a recent survey conducted by AfP one year after the January 6th insurrection, 73 percent of 160 + senior experts reported an elevated or extreme risk of politically motivated violence in the United States in advance of the 2024 presidential election. Unfortunately, millions of Americans are willing to undertake, support, or excuse political violence.
Just as AfP advocates for funding for programs to prevent violent conflict and build peace globally, we need to do the same in the United States. In the FY23 appropriations process, it is critical Congress robustly fund peacebuilding and conflict prevention programming, including:
Doubling the DHS’ TVTP grants program to at least $40 million;
Increasing funding for the Center for Prevention, Programs, and Partnerships (CP3) to $10 million;
Increasing CRS’s budget to $50 million;
Fully funding DOJ’s Community Approaches to Advancing Justice grant program at $30 million;
Proving at least $200 million to DOJ and HHS for the Community Violence Intervention Initiative, with support for trauma and mental health programs linked to the commission of violent extremism;
Supporting a pilot program within DOJ modeled on USAID’s “people-to-people reconciliation program” for $50 million per year for five years;
Providing $10 million for research and pilot programming aimed at understanding the impact of policing on communities, changing police culture, and community-based education around policing; and
Launching a domestic Democracy Fund with $200 million to provide grants to non-profit and civic organizations to reform and increase civic education, break down information silos, increase online literacy and prevent disinformation, and protect our electoral systems.
The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP)—named the “number one influencer and change agent” among peacebuilding institutions worldwide—is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit, nonpartisan network of 160+ organizations working in 181 countries to prevent conflict, reduce violence, improve lives, and build sustainable peace. At our core, 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.