A Letter from AfP's Executive Director, Liz Hume

May 22, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

The theme of last year’s PeaceCon was, “Status Quo No More.” Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. Since January 2025, the Trump Administration slashed USAID international programs by 86 percent and State Department programs by 60 percent. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the State Department’s plans to reorganize the U.S. foreign policy and assistance architecture by dissolving USAID by September 30th, integrating its core functions into a reorganized State Department, closing the Conflict and Stabilization Operations Bureau. The Administration is shutting down the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and recently began terminating international U.S. Department of Agriculture food programs and Department of Justice domestic peacebuilding programs. Meanwhile, many other bilateral donors have cut their foreign assistance—including peacebuilding and conflict prevention programming—while defense budgets are increasing. The United Nations is undergoing a massive review of cuts, such as to the UN Peacebuilding Support Office. At a time of increasing and record-breaking global violent conflict, these cuts are devastating to the peacebuilding sector globally, resulting in the loss of critical conflict prevention programs and expertise and elevating the risk of crisis in the most conflict-affected and fragile states.

We are tracking current and potential future efforts to restrict civic space in the U.S. and will continue to engage with bipartisan offices to support the legal, financial, and operational health of our non-profit  members. U.S. nonprofits are vital to implement conflict prevention and lifesaving programming, but also needed to ensure a healthy democracy.

While the peacebuilding and conflict prevention sector has taken an enormous hit and it is easy to be cynical, we must remain resilient and work harder. In the book Hope for Cynics, Dr. Jamil Zaki notes that it is easy to be cynical right now. However, cynical thinking deepens social problems—when we expect the worst in people, we often bring it out of them; when we refuse to see the possibilities, solving problems becomes impossible. Instead, we need “hopeful skepticism.” So this is our call to action! It is up to us to see the possibility of solving one of the greatest challenges of our times—increasing global violent conflict. It will require us to reflect and develop a robust plan for the coming years to make the case for foreign assistance that prioritizes conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

In the U.S., AfP is collectively advocating for maintaining peacebuilding funding accounts and robust implementation of the prevention oriented canon of law—the Global Fragility Act, the Women, Peace, and Security Act, and Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, including through our newly released briefing book for the 119th Congress. At the same time, we must begin the hard work of educating and advocating for strategic reforms and innovative approaches to rebuild and strengthen the peacebuilding and conflict prevention sector in the U.S. and globally.

It is critical we keep our advocacy moving forward. If you can’t speak out, then those who can speak must, and AfP will continue to be a leading voice. Since January, AfP has increased its outreach efforts to Congress, the Administration, and the media. AfP has met with nearly 30 Congressional offices to educate and advocate for funding for key peacebuilding accounts, and submitted over 1,300 appropriations requests for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). AfP is releasing statements, both when we oppose and when we support actions by the U.S. Government and other bilateral and multilateral donors. AfP sent letters to Secretary Rubio urging that conflict prevention and atrocities prevention be robustly prioritized and integrated within the proposed reorganization of the U.S. Department of State and the forthcoming implementation plans due by July 1st. I was interviewed by Devex, which cited our letter to Secretary Rubio that laid out a series of recommendations. Chief among them was placing a conflict unit within the Bureau for Political Affairs or the proposed Office of the Coordinator for Foreign Assistance and Humanitarian Affairs. “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.”

We recently released a statement disagreeing with the U.S. Department of Defense’s decision to “end” the WPS—noting it is not a mere program, but a vital framework to support and advance peace and security, required by law through the landmark WPS Act, which was quoted in the Washington Post. We were thrilled by the recent U.S. District Court's decision that found the efforts to dismantle the United States Institute of Peace were unlawful. AfP has stepped up to serve as the interim host of USIP’s long-running U.S. Civil Society Working Group on WPS, a coalition of nearly 70 organizations dedicated to advancing WPS in the U.S. and globally.

We are also working to determine how we do not squander this moment, and use this opportunity to ensure smart and practical peacebuilding and conflict prevention reforms are prioritized and fully integrated throughout the development and humanitarian sector—both in the U.S. and globally. I will be in Geneva in the beginning of June to make this case with bilateral donors and help build standards for our sector. AfP is also working closely with our partners, including CSPPS through the IDPS dialogue, to promote robust implementation of SDG16 and elevate conflict prevention at the multilateral level. AfP has partnered with CSPPS, the TAP Network, and Forus International to launch SDG16+ Storytelling Initiative, and is working with key partners to submit recommendations on integrating conflict prevention within the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development and convene side events at the upcoming High-Level Political Forum focused on the interlinkages between SDG16 and SDG5. We will also have to advocate strongly for key offices in the UN, including the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (UNPBSO), to remain robustly resourced.

But we can’t simply rely on bilateral and multilateral donors. Through coalition-building and cross-sector collaboration, AfP is working to influence private companies to promote stability, resilience, and inclusive economic development in fragile contexts—demonstrating that responsible business and investment is not only ethical, but also economically beneficial for long-term peace. On June 24th, AfP will host the initial convening of a new project called Building Peace Economies at Scale, which will bring together diverse stakeholders in the private sector, government, multilateral, and peacebuilding communities to discuss how we can catalyze on this moment and work together to invest in and incentivise peace.

We also understand many of our members are not able to pay their membership fees due to significant loss of funding. As with all of our partners and members, AfP is having to do more with less, so please let us know if you need a waiver of fees during this time of significant financial hardships. We also know that many talented and dedicated colleagues have been laid off. AfP is creating an Advisory Council to keep those who have lost their jobs connected to the peacebuilding field. More information on the Advisory Board is forthcoming. In the summer, AfP will host a happy hour so members and colleagues in our network can build new connections and strengthen old ones. Invitations coming soon!

Also, please know you are all welcome to join our many working groups—even if you have been laid off. Despite the tremendous challenges facing peacebuilding organizations right now, we also understand it is important to provide a platform for our work. We are also still holding events, including the Voices for Change event series on building peace and democracy in transitioning Syria, as well as member-only discussions, such as a recent conversation with International Alert on localization in peacebuilding. Please share your work and research with us so we can promote it, and let us know if you would like to partner with us for an event, roundtable, or other convening.

AfP is thrilled to announce that we will be hosting PeaceCon in January 2026. While PeaceCon will be scaled back, we look forward to convening the field to collectively work on reforms and make the case for peacebuilding and conflict prevention, both in policies and to the broader public. Please also mark your calendars for an upcoming advocacy and education day with the U.S. Congress in September. We will provide more information on all of these events soon.

AfP is also pleased to see a new champion for peacebuilding with the selection of the new Pope. In his first address to thousands of journalists, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of media discussions that uplift peace, stating to the media, “You are at the forefront of reporting on conflicts and aspirations for peace, on situations of injustice and poverty, and on the silent work of so many people striving to create a better world...I ask you to choose consciously and courageously the path of communication in favor of peace." AfP could not agree more, and we look forward to our continued work to shape new peacebuilding narratives that make conflict prevention a first-order priority. Please see a recent interview by AfP’s Board member, Miguel Diaz, former Ambassador to the Holy See, where he notes Pope Leo XIV’s potential to build peace in a troubled world.

AfP is still here and we will continue to work for you all to rebuild and advance the peacebuilding and conflict prevention sector so together we can imagine and work toward the possibility of reducing and preventing violent conflict and building sustainable peace.

All my best,