CONFLICT PREVENTION

📝 Our assessment

Conflicts and violence, in their many manifestations, are pervasive challenges that threaten the fabric of our societies worldwide. Fueled by systemic inequalities, conflicts erode social cohesion, hinder inclusion and a sense of belonging, and limit access to local public essential services. In an era marked by increasing polarization, digital misinformation, and the erosion of trust in institutions, conflict prevention has become a crucial priority.

With persistent violence even outside of conflict environments, shrinking civic space, and the climate emergency exacerbating tensions in communities, the intensification of conflicts in both urban and rural areas underscores the need for systemic responses. Violations of the UN Charter and pushbacks against human rights, particularly women’s rights, present further normative challenges to peacebuilding.

Cities and territories face unique challenges, as rapid urbanization, inequality, and climate-induced displacement intensify local tensions, with women, youth, migrants, and marginalized groups facing heightened risks of exclusion and violence. Yet, cities and regions also hold transformative potential as spaces of dialogue, resilience, socio-economic and cultural opportunities, and innovation.

🤝 Our commitment

Local governments, often the first responders to crises, play a frontline role in fostering peace and coexistence. Their proximity to communities allows them to address the root causes of conflict through inclusive governance and participatory policymaking. By integrating peacebuilding initiatives into public service delivery and leveraging their ability to act swiftly, local governments are pivotal actors in creating conditions for sustainable peace.

• Promoting inclusive governance and civic participation: Inclusive governance is essential to fostering trust, transparency, and social cohesion. Local governments commit to ensuring decision-making processes reflect the voices of youth, women, and other historically marginalized groups. By strengthening participatory governance frameworks, its aim is to develop conflict-sensitive policies and urban planning processes that incorporate early warning systems, mediation platforms, and inclusive budgeting. These initiatives address tensions, enhance community belonging, and build the resilience of cities and territories against emerging challenges.

• Ensuring equality and sustainable development as infrastructure for peace: We commit to addressing systemic inequalities — the root causes of conflict — through sustainable development to foster peaceful coexistence, prevent conflict, and build peace. Local and regional governments advance inclusive policies that empower youth, women, migrants, elders, and disabled persons through the provision of local public services, with education, socio-economic opportunities, and cultural programmes as the cornerstone for the preservation of the commons. By tackling issues such as social and territorial segregation, intergenerational inequalities, or climate change as a driver of conflict, local governments build local infrastructure for peace while addressing structural inequalities before they escalate, building community resilience and aligning sustainable development with conflict prevention.

• Countering discrimination, misinformation, and polarization: Addressing social and political polarization requires inclusive governance and proactive measures to counter discrimination, hate speech, and divisive narratives. Local governments foster coexistence through migration-sensitive planning, equitable access to opportunities, and celebrating diversity. By investing in education on tolerance, digital literacy, and community-driven narratives, they aim to combat misinformation and promote social cohesion. Partnerships with civil society and quality journalism are central to addressing digital and political violence while ensuring inclusive and resilient communities.

📢 Our call

• Multilevel Governance for Sustainable Peacebuilding: The institutionalization of inclusive and functional multilevel governance frameworks is essential to align peacebuilding initiatives with local realities. Joint governance mechanisms are central in fostering alignment, trust, and ownership, particularly through the inclusion of local governments in decision-making processes and the prioritization of locally-determined goals in policy and programming. This can ensure that peacebuilding initiatives are grounded in local realities, reflect community needs, and lay a strong foundation for sustainable peace. Promote the engagement of local and regional governments in identifying, driving and directing priorities, strategies and activities for sustaining peace.

• Empowering locally-driven peacebuilding efforts: Adequate governance frameworks and accessible financing mechanisms are key to empowering local governments to lead peacebuilding initiatives. Local actors must have a central voice in identifying, driving and directing priorities, strategies and activities for sustaining peace, and the related allocation of resources and strategic portfolio design to ensure that interventions address systemic inequalities and prioritize conflict-sensitive solutions. Strengthening local ownership of financial resources enhances the impact of peacebuilding efforts and bridges gaps between national strategies and local implementation.

• Localization at the center of youth, women and local peacebuilders inclusion: Engaging marginalized groups, in particular youth, women and migrants in decision-making processes is fundamental to advance resilient communities, build trust, and foster ownership and sense of belonging. Local and regional governments champion participatory governance by embedding inclusive practices that create spaces for participation and address systemic barriers to involvement to ensure policies reflect diverse perspectives. From this position, they are ideally equipped to develop engagement strategies with local peacebuilders from civil society and other stakeholders.