ALLIANCE FOR PEACEBUILDING

LEARNING AND EVIDENCE: AFP'S BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2023 FOR DEVELOPING AN EVIDENCE BASE AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE INCLUDE:- AFP'S RESEARCH ON PERCEPTIONS OF EVIDENCE FOUND THAT PEACEBUILDERS AGREE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCE AND THE CONDITIONS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE PEACE; HOWEVER, THERE IS LESS AGREEMENT ON INTERVENTIONS THAT LEAD TO PEACE.- 2900+ PEACEBUILDERS GLOBALLY USED THE EIRENE PEACEBUILDING INDICATOR DATABASE, THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF PEACEBUILDING INDICATORS AND RELATED MEASURES, DEVELOPED BY AFP TO ASSIST IN BETTER EVALUATION AND LEARNING ACROSS THE PEACEBUILDING FIELD .- THROUGH AFP'S CONFLICT SENSITIVITY AND INTEGRATION WORKING GROUP, ENSURING THAT CIVIL SOCIETY PEACEBUILDING EXPERTISE WAS CONSIDERED IN USAID'S NEW VIOLENCE & CONFLICT ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (VCAF).A LACK OF EVIDENCE-BASED IMPACT PERSISTS IN THE PEACEBUILDING FIELD. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE STATE OF PEACEBUILDING EVIDENCE AND WHY EVIDENCE IS LAGGING, AFP'S PUBLICATION IN THE JOURNAL OF PEACEBUILDING & DEVELOPMENT ASSESSED PEACEBUILDERS' PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES EVIDENCE AND WHAT IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE EVIDENCE BASE. WHEN CONSIDERING EVIDENCE BASED DECISION MAKING AND PROGRAM DESIGN, THIS RESEARCH ASSISTED IN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT PEACEBUILDERS CONSIDER EVIDENCE.AFP ALSO WORKS TO BUILD THE EVIDENCE BASE, EXEMPLIFIED BY ITS WORK ON THE USAID ARMED CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE LEARNING AGENDA. THIS EFFORT INCLUDED CONDUCTING EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS REVIEWS GROUNDED IN THEORIES OF CHANGE (TOCS) THROUGH A RIGOROUS MULTI-METHODS SYSTEMATIC SCOPING METHODOLOGY THAT ACCOMMODATED QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE EVIDENCE. ADDITIONALLY, AFP IS BUILDING THE EVIDENCE BASE FOR EFFECTIVE INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE. AFP'S PEER LEARNING COMMUNITY LEVERAGED THE STRENGTH OF NETWORKS TO BUILD CAPACITY IN GENERATING ROBUST IRD EVIDENCE. MEMBERS OF THE PLC WERE ABLE TO IMPROVE THEIR IN-HOUSE CAPACITIES FOR EVALUATION AND DEVELOP BESPOKE INDICATORS AND MEASUREMENTS RELEVANT TO IRD.AFP'S DM&E CAPACITY-BUILDING WORK FOCUSED ON IMPROVING, PROFESSIONALIZING, AND STRENGTHENING THE PEACEBUILDING FIELD BY DEVELOPING STANDARDS OF PRACTICE. IN 2023, AFP UPGRADED THE EIRENE PEACEBUILDING DATABASE, THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF PEACEBUILDING INDICATORS AND MEASURES, INTO AN INTERACTIVE AND PARTICIPATORY PLATFORM, BOOSTING ACCESS TO INDICATOR DATA AND ENCOURAGING BETTER DM&E PRACTICE. THE NEW PLATFORM ENABLES CAPTURING REAL-TIME INDICATORS USED ACROSS THE FIELD, INCLUDING LOCALLY-SOURCED INDICATORS CRUCIAL FOR INFORMING FUTURE RESEARCH AND PROGRAMS ON BEST PRACTICES AND STANDARDIZED MEASUREMENT.HOWEVER, EVIDENCE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS DISSEMINATION AND UPTAKE. AFP HOSTED NUMEROUS RESEARCH AND EVIDENCE-SHARING EVENTS THROUGH WORKING GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY: AFP'S BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2023 FOR ADVOCATING FOR POLICIES, LAWS, AND FUNDING INCLUDE:- SUCCESSFULLY ADVOCATING FOR THE GLOBAL FRAGILITY ACT (GFA), ELIE WIESEL GENOCIDE AND ATROCITIES PREVENTION ACT (EWGAPA), AND WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY (WPS) ACT TO ALL REFER TO EACH OTHERMAKING IMPLEMENTATION OF PREVENTION-ORIENTED LEGISLATION MORE INTEGRATED, COORDINATED, AND EFFECTIVE.- ACTIONABLY CHANNELING CIVIL SOCIETY RECOMMENDATIONS WHICH WERE CLEARLY REFLECTED IN THE FINAL PRODUCTION INTO THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S CREATION OF GFA MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING (MEL) INDICATORS, ENSURING THAT THESE INDICATORS REFLECT PEACEBUILDING BEST PRACTICES AND MOST EFFECTIVELY CAPTURE GFA IMPLEMENTATION.- LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR ADVOCACY THAT RESULTED IN THE RELEASE OF PUBLIC-FACING GFA PLANS IN 2024ENSURING ROBUST PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY SO GFA IMPLEMENTATION REFLECTS THE PEACEBUILDING FIELD'S EVIDENCE-BASED LEARNING AND BEST PRACTICES.- SUCCESSFULLY ADVOCATING FOR KEY ATROCITY PREVENTION POLICY COMMITMENTS, INCLUDING U.S. SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAELI SETTLERS IN THE WEST BANK INFORMED BY AFP'S ATROCITY RISK ASSESSMENT AND A U.S. ATROCITIES DETERMINATION IN SUDAN FOLLOWING A SIGN-ON LETTER SENT BY AFP.