April 15, 2025
This email series highlights voices of peace from around the world, to help you find yours.
This month’s Voice of Peace is Mike Jobbins, Search’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Partnerships.
Hear more from Mike about how Search is advocating for peace.
Recently I had the opportunity to submit testimony to a US Congress Appropriations Subcommittee focused on national security. I shared how American diplomacy and foreign assistance—when used strategically—can prevent conflict, save lives, and reduce long-term costs. You are a part of our global community of peacebuilders, but most people will never participate in a congressional hearing or find themselves on Capitol Hill, so we wanted to take this opportunity to show you how Search approaches advocacy work and what we’re sharing with Congress and the Trump administration.
As I shared with the subcommittee, I’m convinced that peacebuilding and conflict resolution are the issues of our time. Over the past five years, the number and intensity of armed conflicts have doubled. These conflicts—and the failure to end them—have a terrible human and financial cost.
At Search for Common Ground, we believe in the power of U.S. foreign assistance because we’ve seen firsthand how it can support breakthroughs in peace, trust, and prosperity:
In Nigeria in 2021, a Search program supported by the U.S. State Department catalyzed defections of Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa members by disseminating messages that encouraged people to leave extremist groups. Among surveyed defectors, 75% had seen these messages.
In the border region between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan where violence has frequently broken out, Search worked with U.S. funding to build relationships, support dialogue, and facilitate negotiations with political leaders—culminating in a historic agreement between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on March 13, 2025 that ended the border dispute.
In 2023, with support from the State Department’s Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, Search supported election monitoring and protection work by a group of indigenous women in Guatemala, who ensured that other indigenous women were able to safely exercise their right to vote in the election.
In the overall U.S. government budget, these are small investments. But they reap significant benefits—including for Americans, whose lives are made safer through increased global security—and deserve bipartisan support.
Drawing on Search’s 43 years of experience, we are urging Congress to invest in four key capabilities:
1. RESPONDING FASTER—AND BETTER—IN CRISES
The U.S. should be able to move quickly in fast-changing situations, seizing windows of opportunity to prevent and de-escalate conflicts. These early, modest interventions—especially when informed by local expertise—can prevent violence and save lives.
2. ENDING CHRONIC CRISES AND CYCLES OF VIOLENCE
As wars drag on longer than ever, U.S. funding can support local efforts that break the cycle—programs like People-to-People Reconciliation and the Middle East Partnership for Peace that boast proven efficacy and bipartisan support. Long-term conflict resolution requires sustained resources and coordination across governmental agencies.
3. ENSURING ALL AID IS CONFLICT SMART
The inability to manage conflict is the primary driver of global poverty and suffering. Aid distribution in conflict zones must be designed in ways that do not exacerbate or create new grievances, and that break the cycle of dependence and contribute to peace. These efforts help build healthy, safe, and just societies that are better able to resist war and address conflict.
4. DELIVERING ACCOUNTABLE, EVIDENCE-BASED PEACEBUILDING PROGRAMS
To meet these priorities, the U.S. must use its tools effectively—like prioritizing grants over contracts to support frontline peacebuilders with less paperwork and greater flexibility—and ensure accountability—both to taxpayers and to the communities being served. Achieving results in conflict zones takes time, but not forever. Our teams have successfully closed country offices and transferred operations to local, independent peacebuilding organizations—a powerful example of how programs can build the capacity of and be responsibly transitioned to local leadership.
We know what it takes to build peace, and we know what’s possible with strategic, accountable U.S. foreign assistance. We call on Congress—and on all who care about a safer, more peaceful world—to invest in peace.
