Reconciliation Programs

Description

Reconciliation programs support “people-to-people” conflict mitigation, bringing together individuals of different ethnic, religious, class, or political backgrounds from areas affected by armed conflict to meaningfully interact. The programs provide opportunities for adversaries to reconcile differences, build trust, and work on common goals resolving potential, ongoing, or recent conflict – also known as peacebuilding. They address divisions that stem from unequal levels of power and access to resources and create opportunities for building productive relationships.

What Does This Buy?

Funds are provided to partners through grants, cooperative agreements, and other mechanisms to implement people-to-people reconciliation programs. Funds are awarded to civil society organizations working in a range of fragile and conflict-affected countries that in recent years have included Kenya, Colombia, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Georgia, Honduras, Jamaica, Macedonia, Mali, Niger, and Senegal.

Justification for the Request

• Reconciliation programs support broader U.S. efforts to mitigate and prevent violent conflict.
• Since 2004, funding has supported over 300 peacebuilding projects in over 40 countries, including dedicated funding for the West Bank and Gaza.
• Evaluations consistently find that these programs demonstrate results of increased trust, enhanced cooperation, increased “conflict resolution values,” decreased aggression and loneliness, and mitigation of hazardous environmental and health conditions among project participants.
• Programs lay the foundation for peace in some of the most pressing conflict-affected areas. As groups build better relationships and break patterns of prejudice, the likelihood of violence between them declines.

U.S. Interest

• Reconciliation programs support other U.S. activities to stabilize target countries. These programs build the resiliencies necessary for diplomatic efforts to take hold.
• More resilient, less violent societies reduce the need for future U.S. assistance. They more capably participate in the global economy and create new markets for U.S. goods.

Bold Vision

• Greater U.S. efforts to address violent conflict, including reconciliation programs, could mitigate or even reverse the current 25-year peak in global violence. Additional investment in conflict prevention and resilient societies could reduce future military and humanitarian involvement, empower communities, and propel them toward self-reliance.
• Additional funding could help current target areas generate national and even regional-level gains, as issues tend to spill over borders.
• Additional investment could scale up reconciliation programs by both expanding the reach within current target countries and growing the number of countries served.
• Additional investment could expand innovation. People-to-people work can be successful through a wide range of activities, from dialogue, to sports, to arts programs. Expanded programs could reach more people in the target communities, both through direct programming and the strong potential of program-related media and communications.

Impact of Cuts

Cuts to reconciliation programs would threaten previous gains made in fragile contexts. Reconciliation is a long-term process that requires building trust consistently over time.