Sign-On Letter by AfP to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on State Department Reorganization

April 30, 2025

The Honorable Marco Rubio
U.S. Secretary of State
2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary Rubio,

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP), a network of 235 organizations working in 181 countries to prevent conflict and build sustainable peace, and the undersigned organizations, urge you to ensure conflict prevention and peacebuilding are robustly prioritized and integrated within the proposed reorganization of the U.S. Department of State and the forthcoming implementation plans to be developed by senior officials by July 1st. At a time of record-breaking levels of violent conflict, the reorganization would eliminate key bureaus and offices that lead and implement the prevention-oriented canon of law, including the Global Fragility Act (GFA) and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Act. During your confirmation hearing, you noted, “Preventing crises is a lot cheaper and a lot better than dealing with crises after the fact.” We could not agree more, but to prevent and reduce violent conflict and build sustainable peace in conflict-affected and fragile states, the State Department must retain its conflict experts. Additionally, it is vital there is a conflict-focused unit with clear responsibility, authority, and dedicated resources to robustly implement these laws, as well as to ensure the integration of conflict prevention and peacebuilding throughout all foreign assistance and diplomacy strategies.

The recently released organizational chart would eliminate the Bureau for Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), which currently serves as the lead coordinator for the implementation of the GFA and houses the Negotiations Support Unit, which provides expert strategic and technical support to U.S. officials at every stage of peace processes. Furthermore, the plan would eliminate the Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI), which is essential to implementing the WPS Act. These bipartisan laws enacted by President Trump and co-sponsored by you—and their statutorily required programs and training—are designed to support evidence-based reforms to address the drivers of conflict globally and determine whether our strategies and programs are working or not. If the U.S. is serious about preventing conflicts and reducing instability, then the State Department must retain its conflict experts from CSO and the USAID Bureau of Conflict, Stabilization, and Prevention.

To achieve President Trump’s vision of preventing and reducing violent conflict, the State Department could situate the conflict unit within the Office of the Under Secretary for Political Affairs (P) or the Office of the Coordinator for Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs (F). In the last two decades, the U.S. Government has developed extraordinary conflict analysis and learnings, but they have not always been integrated into strategies and/or heeded, which is why the GFA was enacted into law. Therefore, this unit, regardless of where it is housed, must have the responsibility, authority, and resources to not only robustly implement the GFA, but also integrate conflict prevention and peacebuilding throughout ALL of the reorganized State Department’s diplomacy and assistance.

The GFA and the U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS) are designed to radically reform diplomacy and assistance in at least five priority countries and regions by building on lessons learned and evidence from previous U.S. Government policies and operations. The GFA and this Strategy require a move away from “business as usual” and toward a whole-of-government, longer-term strategy that is fit for the conflicts and instability the world faces today. The lessons from GFA and SPCPS implementation are meant to be integrated beyond the initial five priority countries/region on an ongoing basis. We recommend the GFA and the SPCPS are used as the model for the forthcoming reorganization implementation plans.

During his inaugural address, President Trump stated, “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end and, perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier.” As stipulated in the GFA, implementing partners, including civil society, faith communities, and the private sector stand ready to work in partnership with you to get this reorganization right. To achieve this goal, it is critical to retain the U.S. Government’s conflict experts and ensure a conflict-focused unit in the State Department with the proper resources and authority so U.S. foreign policy and assistance is fit-for-purpose for the increasing and changing dynamics of today’s violent conflicts and instability.

 Sincerely,

Alliance for Peacebuilding
The Bridgeway Group
The Carter Center
Catalyst for Peace
Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS)
Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS)
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Global Communities
HIAS
Invisible Children
Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
Journal of Social Encounters
Korea Peace Now Grassroots Network
Mediators Beyond Borders International
Minnesota Peace Project
Nuru
PartnersGlobal
Peace Catalyst International
Religious Freedom Institute
Saferworld USA
School of International Service, American University
Search for Common Ground
Weichel & Associates
World Without Genocide