Institute For Economics And Peace

THE INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS AND PEACE (IEP) IS AN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE DEDICATED TO BUILDING A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BUSINESS, PEACE AND ECONOMICS, WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PEACE.

LAST YEAR WAS A STRONG YEAR FOR IEP IN THE US AND ACROSS THE AMERICAS. THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, WHICH NOW SEEMS FIRMLY BEHIND HAS CONTRIBUTED TO A DIFFERENT WAY OF WORKING, PARTICULARLY IN AND ACROSS THE VIRTUAL SPACE. WE HAVE LEVERAGED THIS WELL AND ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT PROSPECTS FOR THE NEXT FINANCIAL YEAR. THERE ARE NO MAJOR ISSUES OR CONCERNS TO REPORT. MEXICO OPERATIONS IN MEXICO CONTINUED TO GROW IN 2021/22 CULMINATING IN THE SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH OF THE 2022 MEXICO PEACE INDEX, WHICH WAS WELL RECEIVED, AMPLY PROMOTED AND PROVIDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SENIOR DECISION MAKERS ACROSS 8 MEXICAN STATES. THE REPORT HAD 480M MEDIA IMPRESSIONS (UP ON LAST YEAR), AND THE FINDINGS WERE INCLUDED IN NEARLY 250 PRESS ARTICLES AROUND THE COUNTRY. INTEREST FROM SOME OF MEXICOS LARGEST NEWSPAPERS WAS NOTABLE THIS YEAR AND INCLUDED OVER 50 LIVE INTERVIEWS. MEXICO WORKSHOPS THE MEXICO OFFICE SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERED A VARIETY OF POSITIVE PEACE PROGRAMS FOR ROTARY AND THE STATE GOVERNMENTS OF HIDALGO AND JALISCO AND SUCCESSFULLY SET THE STAGE FOR TWO WIDE-RANGING GOVERNMENT-FUNDED PEACE CONSULTANCY PROJECTS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN THE NEW FINANCIAL YEAR. ONE IN PARTICULAR STANDS OUT, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE OF JALISCOS CULTURE OF PEACE PROGRAM, AS IT WILL PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEEPLY ENGRAIN POSITIVE PEACE IN FUTURE PUBLIC POLICY AND PROGRAMMING.POSITIVE PEACEIN EARLY 2022, A NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WAS SIGNED WITH WORLD VISION AIMED AT STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING AND PEACEBUILDING IMPACT. JOINT TRAINING SESISONS WERE DELIVERED IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, ETHIOPIA AND KENYA AND TRAINING IS ALREADY PLANNED FOR INTERFAITH LEADERS AND WORLD VISION STAFF AND PARTNERS IN IRAQ FOR THE COMING YEAR. THE US OFFICE LED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS RELATIONSHIP AND IS LEADING THE COORDINATION OF THESE ACTIVITIES WORLDWIDE. DESPITE COVID 19 LIMITATIONS ON TRAVEL IEP STAFF IN THE US WERE ABLE TO DELIVER A VARIETY OF OTHER IN-PERSON POSITIVE PEACE WORKSHOPS, INCLUDING IN COLOMBIA WITH INTERFAITH COUNCIL MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF ALGECIRAS. OTHER POSITIVE PEACE WORKSHOPS WERE DELIVERED VIRTUALLY OVER MULTIPLE DAYS FOR PARTNERS INCLUDING THE NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION AND THE JOURNALISTS AND WRITERS FOUNDATION AMONG OTHERS. NEWGEN PEACEBUILDERS WITH WHOM WE COLLABORATE CLOSELY HAVE CONTINUED TO INCLUDE IEPS POSITIVE PEACE MATERIAL IN THEIR TRAINING MATERIAL WHICH IS BEING DELIVERED EN MASSE TO STUDENTS IN US SCHOOLS. TO DATE, OVER 7,000 MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM 318 US SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO THE MATERIAL AND THERE ARE PLANS TO CONSIDERABLY EXPAND THE PROGRAM OVER THE COMING YEAR.GLOBAL PEACE INDEXTHE 16TH EDITION OF THE GLOBAL PEACE INDEX WAS RELEASED IN JUNE 2022. THE MAIN US LAUNCH EVENT IN DC WAS WELL-ATTENDED AND A SMALLER LAUNCH EVENT AT THE BAHAI INTERNATIONAL CENTER WAS HELD IN NY, FOLLOWED BY A NUMBER OF SMALLER PRESENTATIONS THROUGHOUT THE LAUNCH PERIOD, INCLUDING PRESENTATIONS IN SPANISH FOR LATIN AMERICAN AUDIENCES.GLOBAL TERRORISM INDEXTHE MAIN US LAUNCH WAS HELD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GLOBAL CENTER ON COOPERATIVE SECURITY, UNCTED AND THE RESOLVE NETWORK. FOLLOW UP EVENTS WERE HELD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MONTREAL INSTITUTE OF GENOCIDE STUDIES, ALLIANCE FOR PEACEBUILDING AND CONNEXUS. ATTENDEES INCLUDED UN AND UN MEMBER STATES AS WELL CIVIL SOCIETY, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE US. ROTARYTHE PARTNERSHIP WITH ROTARY HAS CONTINUED TO STRENGTHEN AND WE HAVE ENGAGED WITH OVER 1,000 ROTARIANS OVER THE LAST YEAR. POSITIVE PEACE ACTIVATORS TRAINED BY IEP STAFF IN THE US AND MEXICO INDEPENDENTLY COMPLETED 67 EDUCATIONAL ACTIONS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2022 AND OVER 300 ACTIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED SINCE THE PROGRAM STARTED TWO YEARS AGO. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, IEP PROVIDED SUPPORT FOR ACTIVATORS BEING TRAINED IN OTHER LOCATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE, MOST NOTABLY IN EAST ASIA AND A SOON TO BE DELIVERED TRAINING IN EAST AFRICA LED BY STAFF FROM IEPS SISTER ORGANIZATION IN SYDNEY (IEP AUSTRALIA). REACHIEP STAFF IN THE US AND MEXICO TEAMS HAVE LED OR PARTICIPATED IN OVER 120 DIFFERENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS THIS FINANCIAL YEAR. IN LATIN AMERICA, IEP PARTICIPATED IN A NUMBER OF IN-PERSON SEMINARS IN PERU AND VIRTUALLY ENGAGED WITH NEW AUDIENCES IN ARGENTINA, COSTA RICA, GUATEMALA AND ECUADOR.OTHERECOLOGICAL THREAT REPORT (ETR) - THE LAUNCH OF ETR IN THE US WAS SUCCESSFUL, FOLLOW UP PUBLIC EVENTS WERE WELL ATTENDED AND THERE WAS DISTINCT INTEREST IN THE CONNECTION BETWEEN RESOURCE SCARCITY AND CONFLICT, AS UNPACKED IN THE ETR. THE LAUNCH PERIOD OFFICIALLY CONCLUDED WITH A PRESENTATION FOR 50 MEMBERS OF USAIDS PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL, WHICH COME FROM A BROAD ARRAY OF DEPARTMENTS INSIDE USAID. CONSULTING IEPS (US) CONSULTING PIPELINE STRENGTHENED IN 21/22 AND INCLUDED MOST NOTABLY CONSULTING FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PEACE INSTITUTE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MULTILATERALISM INDEX AN ASSESSMENT OF LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION IN AND PERFORMANCE AND INCLUSIVITY OF THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM. UN- THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IEP PRESENTED FREQUENTLY TO UN MEMBER STATES AND THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AS WELL AS SEVERAL UN RELATED STAFF AND CIVIL SOCIETY BODIES. WE ALSO PARTICIPATED IN CONSULTATIONS AND SUBMITTED WRITTEN INPUT AT THE REQUEST OF THE SECRETARIAT OF THE UN HIGH LEVEL ADVISORY BOARD ON EFFECTIVE MULTILATERALISM, AN ADVISORY BODY SET UP BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL. US GOVERNMENT - THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, IEP ENGAGED WITH USAID AND STATE DEPARTMENT CONTACTS AND PROVIDED CRITICAL INPUT DURING CONSULTATIONS HELD IN RELATION TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL FRAGILITY ACT. A TAILORED REPORT WAS DEVELOPED AND SHARED COVERING 9 PRIORITY COUNTRIES AND COMPILING INFORMATION FROM ALL 4 CORE IEP REPORTS.