When societies are healthy, people’s lives are better. They feel safe. Their communities have after-school programs empowering young people instead of more prisons. People believe they can change the course of their lives if they try. They trust the government. They suffer from discrimination less and feel more connected to those who are different from themselves.
a Healthy Society
The Vital Signs of
The amount of physical violence, personal agency, institutional legitimacy, polarization, and government resource investment people experience every day are signs of societal health. When the vital signs are strong, peace flourishes. That’s why our peacebuilding initiatives target these vital signs to improve societal health and make people’s lives better.
Peacebuilding initiatives such as Women Lead Together, which pairs Palestinian and Israeli women, and Religious Community Action, which pairs Muslim and Jewish women, reduce physical violence and polarization through connection and dialogue.
Pelagie lives in rural Burundi, a place where cultural norms dictate that women should not participate in income-generating activities. We invited community leaders to participate in our “Let’s Talk” peacebuilding initiative, addressing gender norms and female economic empowerment. Community leaders found common ground by recognizing the need for economic development for everyone. Pelagie, like so many women, now exercise their voices in household decision-making, own and operate their own businesses, and run for public office with the support of their husbands.
Rooted in empathy and collaboration, multipartiality underpins how we work, centering human dignity above all else. Because our diverse teams on the ground are from the divided communities where we work, they understand the complexity of conflict dynamics first-hand and are trusted by the parties in conflict. Multipartiality creates the space for trust and collaboration to flourish despite differences in our individual beliefs.
Multipartiality
The Common
Ground Approach
Common ground is not a compromise. The Common Ground Approach (CGA) invites leaders from every dividing line in conflict to gather, identify one goal everyone wants to achieve, and collaborate to reach that goal. Successful collaboration builds trust, which fosters further collaboration. Since all parties in conflict want the same goal, they maintain trust and collaboration, creating lasting results.
the
Peace Impact
framework
A Tool to Ground Quantitative Measurement into a Holistic, Human Experience of Conflict
Improving the vital signs of a healthy society is possible even in areas where conflict continues. But how do we know our peacebuilding initiatives work? How do we know they don’t create bad side effects?
Gathering input from peace practitioners, community organizers, government officials, and academics at 180 organizations in 45 countries, we created the Peace Impact Framework (PIF), a tool to measure the impact of our peacebuilding initiatives from three perspectives.
We accounted for the lived experiences of people living in conflict. We wanted to know what matters to the communities where we work and what kinds of change people want to see because peace looks different in different places.
1
We gathered metrics about the five vital signs of a healthy society: physical violence, personal agency, institutional legitimacy, polarization, and government resource investment by asking people living in conflict questions such as “Do you feel safe walking around your neighborhood?” (physical violence), or “Would you call the police if someone attacked you?” (institutional legitimacy).
2
We gathered and analyzed practitioner observations, coding their reflections tomonitor expected and unexpected results to make sure our projects didn’t create unintended consequences.
3
After implementing our programming with female traders in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and border checkpoint guards, 85% of participants felt a decrease in gender-based violence and harassment at the border, and 75% felt safer. 57% saw their trade become more profitable. We made this impact by supporting 21,000 traders at a cost of $50 per trader.
People
Engaged
Our
Engagement
Direct Participants
409,000+
Indirect Participants
18.2 M+
Digital Media Reach
22.2 M+
Local Partners
Organizations
671
Economic Empowerment
7,991
Participants
People
Engaged
Through Activities
278,457
Through Subgrants
130,862
Through Media
38.4 M+
through specific activities
People
Engaged
through specific type of programming
7,991
Economic Empowerment
15,287
Humanitarian & Relief
Number of Local Partners
671
N.B. These figures covered all of our programs, besides Yemen.
Measure Societal Vital Signs Where We Work
Our Impact:
Physical Violence
What if you didn’t feel safe walking down the street at night in your own community? You’d probably drive everywhere if you had a car or could afford gas. If you owned a small business, you might not be open at night, especially if you had to walk home or take a bus, thereby limiting your income. In general, you’d stay at home more, feeding isolation.
In 2023, our peacebuilding initiatives addressing physical violence achieved the following results:
The percentage of people who feel safe walking around the area where they live in South Sudan increased by 48%.
66% of respondents in Kenya, where electoral violence is common, reported having experienced election-related issues/conflicts and reported them being addressed peacefully.
Vulnerable communities living at the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic felt an increased sense of security, which rose by 12%.
personal agency
Do you think “the system” is rigged; that no matter what you do, you can’t get ahead? Or do you feel you can prevent violence in your community, affect politics to drive positive social change or improve your economic situation? Our ability to make positive change in our communities and our lives drives our sense of personal agency.
In 2023, our programming addressing personal agency achieved the following results:
More than 90% of our program participants felt empowered to influence their surroundings and contribute positively to their communities in Myanmar.
91% of project participants in South Sudan believed they can make a positive difference to address emerging atrocity risks in their communities compared to only 17% of non-project participants. Our program focused on preventing atrocities in areas affected by population displacements increased direct participants' agency by 30 percentage points.
The proportion of the population demonstrating better knowledge of their rights and how to obtain redress increased by 33 percentage points in Niger. The proportion of targeted community members who felt empowered to defend their rights and access justice almost doubled throughout the life of the project.
The proportion of women and men in the target communities who took action to influence conflict around land and environmental issues increased by 41.5 percentage points in the Central African Republic.
Search’s work significantly boosted journalists' agency, with 69% of participants fully confident in their ability to impact their community in Pakistan.
49.7% more women leaders improved their business literacy/knowledge and an increased 47% of entrepreneurs were confident they could make informed decisions about using financial services as a result of our program promoting economic entrepreneurship among women in Sri Lanka. Similarly, 87% of women economic leaders were able to identify financial resources, indicating an increase in their livelihood capacity as a result of the investment.
89% of community members in areas targeted by our election violence prevention program said that an ordinary person in their community could make a positive difference to make their community better in Kenya.
Our projects increased the agency of women leaders. 79% of elected women leaders reported having increased confidence in their ability to constructively engage in local governance processes to address their constituents' issues in Sri Lanka.
The number of young people who felt they had agency to address local governance issues affecting them in Jordan increased by 68 percentage points after we implemented our youth-centered governance intervention project.
Institutional legitimacy
Do you trust the police in your community? Do you think there is one justice system or multiple justice systems depending on your race, economic status, or gender? Is the government responsive to what your community needs? Can you trust the news?
In 2023, our peacebuilding initiatives addressing trust in public institutions achieved the following results:
The number of media program listeners who reported feeling better equipped to recognize instances of misinformation/hate speech encouraging electoral violence increased by 36% in Kenya.
The number of respondents who said that they have increased access to credible information and resources about the elections as a result of the media products produced in our project increased by 20 percentage points in Kenya.
The number of media project respondents who were satisfied with the way the media was informing people about peace and security issues and regional dynamics increased by 66 percentage points in Rwanda.
Our Media and Digital Peacebuilding program increased the capacity of media professionals by 26% to produce high-quality and impartial information on peace and security issues in Rwanda, a very sensitive media landscape.
The number of community members who reported having the means to address grievances that emerged during the electoral process increased by 57 percentage points in Kenya.
Program participants who were satisfied with the way legal problems were solved increased by 37 percentage points in Niger. We are proud of this accomplishment as providing access to justice for all was identified as a priority need among the targeted communities.
Our programming increased participants’ perception that decision-making processes around conflict mediation were inclusive and responsive by 29 percentage points in Niger. This is a testament to how the project strengthened institutional legitimacy at the local level.
Our program bringing together police and community members through dialogue and town hall meetings contributed to increasing the legitimacy of the police in Mtwara, Tanzania, which was perceived as a credible partner in safeguarding community security, including by marginalized groups such as women. There was a 24% increase in people’s perception that they have access to a safe platform for discussing sensitive violent extremism-related issues. There was a 21% increase in target community stakeholders who credit our programs for making their voices and concerns related to violent extremism heard by the relevant government authorities.
76% of youth engaged through our inclusive government programming were satisfied with services they sought from authorities, and 55% believed decision-making is inclusive and responsive in Jordan.
resource investment
Do we see our tax dollars invested in prisons or parks? How many youth empowerment centers or after-school programs are in your community? Who responds to a 911 mental health emergency call, health practitioners or the police? Since governments make resource investment decisions, our policy and advocacy work champions proactive resource investment over reactive resource investment.
In 2023, our peacebuilding initiatives addressing resource investment achieved the following results:
In collaboration with USAID and the University of Southern California, Search released a study on the social and economic return of youth-led peacebuilding work, finding that for every 1 USD, there is a 5-10 USD return on investment from youth-led peacebuilding programs. The Kenya Private Sector Alliance published a report to build on these results and is actively seeking ways to establish a funding mechanism to support youth-led peacebuilding as a result of the research and follow-up advocacy efforts. Inspired by the results, members of Parliament in Cameroon are exploring how they can develop a youth-inclusive national strategy on YPS and have requested a similar study to help Members of Parliament justify their legislative strategy on YPS.
polarization
Are you stuck in an ‘Us vs. Them” mentality, urging people to take a side? Do your news sources constantly reaffirm your own beliefs? How often do you have substantial conversations with people who don’t look like you, pray like you, or think like you? How often do you intermingle with someone from a different socioeconomic class?
In 2023, our peacebuilding initiatives addressing polarization achieved the following results:
Our programs addressing health and protection services increased positive relationships among both displaced and host communities by 23 percentage points in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a context where displacement and strained resources increased tensions among groups.
The number of community members who see the value of collaboration as a way to address issues increased by 73 percentage points in the Central African Republic.
Our atrocity prevention program facilitated the development of trust and enhanced interactions between host and IDP communities in settings like markets and community events. There was a 23% increase in host/displaced community members reporting positive interactions with the other group) and a 26% increase in collaboration as a direct result of Search’s atrocity prevention program in South Sudan.
The percentage of community members who believe that young women and men can make a positive difference in bringing communities together to address conflict around land and environmental issues increased by 44 percentage points in the Central African Republic.
Meeting
the Moment
From social media moderation in Sri Lanka to reality TV show production in Burundi to UN policy process influence, we innovate in any context. We introduce new models, and when those models are adopted by others, we push forward new modalities of engagement in pursuit of peace.
Technology is key to enabling the trust and collaboration needed to meld “Us versus Them” into “We.” Working with technologists, academics, policymakers, investors, and peacebuilders, we harness the power of tech to reduce polarization and distrust in public institutions so online harm doesn’t become real-world violence.
Digital Peacebuilding
For every dollar invested in youth-led peacebuilding programs, we gain a five- to ten-dollar return on investment, benefiting not just young people but also the private sector and our governments.
Global Coalition on Youth, Peace, and Security
The platform ConnexUs, created by Search for social impact practitioners in conflict contexts, connected over 102,000 visitors from 146 countries in 2023, with the top represented nations being the United States, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and the Philippines. ConnexUs' community of practitioners, policymakers, donors, and academics grew to over 4,400 registered members, who contributed 3,293 resources, 254 events, and 300 jobs across the 25 Thematic Action Areas. The platform further facilitated knowledge sharing through 12 ConnexUs Thursday Talks featuring 28 expert speakers on timely topics from climate security to atrocity prevention. Some highlights included launching the Digital Peacebuilders Guide, hosting the Conflict Sensitivity & Integration Knowledge Sharing Campaign with USAID, and adding over 100 organizational profiles to showcase members' inspiring work. By providing a crowdsourced and accessible space for connections across borders and sectors, ConnexUs creates positive social change by empowering organizations and individuals to increase their reach, effectiveness, and impact.
Connexus
We advocate for government institutions to increase their will and capability to invest in peacebuilding approaches when responding to conflict. We advocate for accountability, representation, and transparency, so people have more trust in the institutions serving them.
Advocacy Work
she wins
common ground usa
We envision an America where we engage in collaboration across differences to address our greatest challenges, and where we can all belong and thrive. Most Americans want to overcome the divisions we face in our society. Disagreement is an opportunity to transform conflict into cooperation on our daily and most pernicious problems. It takes courage. And everyone can do it. Find out more about Common Ground USA here.
Policy initiatives that exclude half of the population are likely to fail. Yet this is often how peace works, with women barred from key discussions and decisions. At UN-brokered negotiations, just 23 percent of participants are women—even though negotiations that involve women are 35 percent more likely to last through 15 years.
In the U.S., after submitting written inputs to the strategy, USAID's first "Building Bridges in Development: USAID’s Strategic Religious Engagement Policy" includes peacebuilding as a sector for religious engagement defines "religious actor" to include women and youth, and recognizes that Freedom of Religion and Beliefs and religious engagement are mutually reinforcing.
U.S. Congressional representatives, collaborating with a coalition of peacebuilding organizations co-led by Search, reintroduced the U.S. Youth, Peace, and Security Act of 2023. Government and civil society coordinated and cooperated to support youth peacebuilding and increase recognition and resources for young people’s role in US security and peacebuilding programming.
Religious Engagement
Religion is a force for peace and is used as a weapon of war. That’s why it’s vital we engage religious actors – men, women, and young people - to advance peacebuilding and minimize conflict. We help build interreligious relationships based on trust and mutual respect through our Common Ground Approach to Religious Engagement that enable collaboration with policymakers and other sectors of society to advance human dignity and freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. See examples of our impact around the world here.
A Year of Expansion
the merger
with preemptive love
The merger not only enhanced the reach and impact of Preemptive Love's initiatives but also presented new avenues for Search for Common Ground to further its objectives. With this integration, Search's program teams gained increased capacity to respond to emergencies, address pressing community needs, and drive forward organizational goals while remaining steadfast in our mission and methodology.
Furthermore, the merger underscored our belief that true progress towards peace could only be achieved through strategic collaboration and partnership. By pooling our resources, expertise, and networks, we were better positioned to catalyze positive breakthroughs in areas affected by conflict.
The merger between Search For Common Ground and Preemptive Love Coalition marked a significant milestone in the journey towards global peace.
At the heart of the merger lay a commitment to advancing peace through trust-building, community empowerment, and collaboration - the fundamental pillars upon which both organizations had built their missions. By joining forces, we recognized the opportunity to expand our reach and effectiveness in addressing the root causes of conflict and creating lasting change in communities worldwide.
Expansion
in latam
Continuing the work in Latin America was a pivotal step in our collective mission to advance global peace. In navigating the rich cultural diversity and complex socio-political landscapes of the region, our commitment to trust-building, community empowerment, and collaboration served as guiding principles. We extended our efforts to serve the migrant population in Mexico, providing essential emergency relief such as hot meals and hygiene kits, along with innovative solutions like our farm to ensure sustainable food sources. Additionally, in Venezuela, we continued our food canteen and a meal program aimed at feeding children to combat malnutrition. By addressing the urgent needs of vulnerable populations, we not only provided immediate relief but also fostered resilience and stability in communities affected by displacement and insecurity. This expansion represented more than geographic diversification; it underscores our dedication to building bridges and creating a world where peace, justice, and dignity prevail universally.
humanitarian
relief
By combining resources, expertise, and networks, Search gained the capacity to rapidly respond to crises, providing essential aid and support to affected communities. Leveraging Preemptive Love's experience in humanitarian assistance and Search's established presence in conflict-affected regions, we developed robust emergency response mechanisms to address immediate needs and mitigate the impact of disasters. This integration not only enhanced our ability to deliver timely assistance but also strengthened our commitment to building resilient communities capable of weathering future crises. As a result, Search became a more agile and effective force for peace, able to adapt and respond to evolving humanitarian challenges with compassion and solidarity. In 2023, we were able to support both Syria and Afghanistan after devastating earthquakes and provide support to pregnant women in Gaza.
The Challenges Ahead
Search operates in some of the most acute violent conflicts, including in ten countries where there were 117,226 conflict-related deaths in 2023. This equates to roughly 321 people per day, meaning that approximately every 5 minutes, a person dies in one of these countries due to armed conflict. In acute moments of conflict, we often imagine that safety and security become the most important concern.
That may be true, but the data show that when people express what that looks like in practice, those needs span across all of the vital signs of peace. When asking people living through acute stages of a conflict what matters most to them, personal safety and security emerges as the primary concern, but they also bring to the forefront the importance of accessible services and support systems. Somewhat unexpectedly, dynamics like agency and polarization remain high priorities for the population, likely because discrimination and participation in public space has such an important impact on how people can ensure their security. Acute contexts often reveal the underlying “cracks in the system” and failures to serve peoples’ diverse and urgent needs.
The needs of communities are closely matched to the target choices of Search and partners in acute stages of conflict. This has proved to be a huge strength, and the ability to support local actors in maintaining and expanding their influence during these times is crucial. Search focused on targeted interventions that prevent further escalation through rapid response initiatives, promoting dialogue—particularly among host and displaced communities, and offering reliable mechanisms for justice and conflict mediation. Supporting the agency of peacebuilders and partners directly prevented and reduced violence in targeted areas.
Reduced polarization and improved positive relationships have allowed people to better meet the needs of those displaced by violence. Supporting the agency of local service providers, governments and civil society had a ripple effect for effective relief from violence and fostering legitimacy of core institutions. In at least one case in 2023, there was success engaging with market forces to transform investments that directly contribute to violence and human rights violations.
mass
migration
Mexico
In Mexico, the team served critically underserved migrant populations, reaching 3,845 people with food assistance and supporting over 2,000 people to invest in their communities with gardening/agricultural projects, alongside the “Classroom on Wheels” tech bus initiative that offered 121 participants valuable and practical digital skills. A majority of the participants were female, promoting gender inclusion and transformation.
venezuela
The Venezuela team bridged social and political divides, offering food aid, educational support, and small business assistance to address shared community needs and foster collaboration. With a human-centered approach, their programs included mobile canteens and community gatherings to meet immediate needs but also aim to reduce polarization by supporting those experiencing marginalization. This strategy has led to the distribution of over 15,000 hot meals across Zulia and Caracas, the launch of 11 women-owned businesses with comprehensive training, and the rehabilitation of 39 roofs, benefitting over 130 people and embedding principles of social inclusion, trust-building, and economic advancement.
war/violent
conflict
israel/gaza
Israelis and Palestinians, Search’s programs in the mixed city of Lod supported at the onset of the latest crisis the establishment of a civil emergency forum with official support from the local municipality and the police to address pressing issues such as shelter, food supply, and medical aid, while also working diligently to maintain peace and prevent violence. The forum has already successfully defused two potential crises relating to online incitement and misunderstandings that could have escalated to violence.
sudan
In Sudan, in the volatile landscape of South Kordofan, local peacebuilders partnering with Search played a crucial role in averting a major crisis in Dilling. Community leaders from varied ethnic and age groups effectively mediated between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, preventing the invasion of Dilling. This significant achievement underscores the effectiveness of empowering local actors through the Common Ground Approach, as their increased agency and adept mediation directly deescalated tensions, preventing what could have escalated into active conflict in Dilling.
niger
In Niger, intervention on political processes are leading to significant improvements in levels of satisfaction with the way their legal problems were solved (37%). Search and partners working to improve people’s knowledge of their rights and how to obtain redress (which saw a similar increase of 33%) and provide legal assistance. Moreover, the proportion of community members who feel empowered to defend their rights and access justice has almost doubled throughout the life of the project. This shift is particularly significant because access to justice for all was identified as a priority need among communities, and a key indicator to bring peace.
usa
Informed by lessons learned as the world’s largest and oldest peacebuilding organization, Common Ground-USA (CG-USA) is a bold initiative of Search for Common Ground aimed to foster the conditions for a more inclusive, equitable, and peaceful society. In 2023, CG-USA work supported colleges to deal with increased polarization and violence on campuses, released a peacemaker tool kit to help prevent political violence including state level initiatives in Texas and Pennsylvania, and opened spaces for broader and deeper societal transformations in New Orleans led in partnership with the Plessy & Ferguson Initiative, CG-USA is launching a historical education and memorialization project aimed to empower communities to collaboratively address the lasting impact of unaddressed historical grievances.
yemen
In Yemen, where over 43% of local conflicts are linked to water scarcity, competition over access to water serves as a primary conflict catalyst. In Lahj, tensions over access to a single well had persisted for 15 years when armed violence erupted between two neighboring villages. As part of a three-year initiative named "Promoting Women’s Inclusion in Peacebuilding in Yemen," Search trained 556 community representatives in nonviolent conflict transformation and facilitated participatory dialogue sessions. Consequently, the two villages, guided by women peacebuilders, ultimately agreed to cease violence, established a mechanism for equitable well-sharing, and secured funding to construct a second well. Presently, both villages not only enjoy equal access to water but also possess the skills and experience to devise collaborative solutions to shared challenges.
Climate Change Exacerbates
the Devastation of Conflict
Climate change, environmental degradation, and overexploitation exacerbate the scarcity of natural resources such as fertile land, water, minerals, and oil in the Global South. In already fragile contexts, this often escalates into violent conflict. As we progress towards a green transition to address climate change, we are collaborating with governments, non-peacebuilding NGOs, and other stakeholders to ensure that the transition is conflict-sensitive.
the
building blocks
of
peace
with recently opened small businesses were given monthly coaching in Iraq and Venezuela.
4,000 entrepreneurs
were delivered to vulnerable people in Mexico, Afghanistan, Syria.
1,175 hygiene kits
received education and nutrition support in Venezuela.
45 students
were repaired in Venezuela.
13 roofs
people received food support in Mexico.
3,845 PEOPLE
provided from our mobile canteen in Venezuela.
9,000 hot lunches
migrants harvested and 9,767 eggs on our farm in Mexico.
2,720.60 kg of food
people attended community gatherings and Love Anyway Feasts, having the tough conversations that drive connection and reduce polarization in the US.
443 People
