Social Cohesion & Peacebuilding

The Solidarity Center is a US-based organization partnering with workers in 60+ countries to advance labor rights through training, legal support, and capacity building. Programs focus on worker rights, union skills, workplace safety, and combating forced labor. In Bangladesh, garment workers secured 9% wage increases and safe drinking water. In Georgia, workers won over $12 million through court decisions after safety training. In Sri Lanka, 350 domestic workers joined unions and developed model employment contracts. In Mexico, independent unions secured up to 30% wage increases. Programs train workers as job safety experts and advocate for international labor standards.

Interpeace works with local partners to design and implement inclusive peacebuilding processes. Their approach combines research, dialogue facilitation, and media to help societies build lasting peace. Active in Central America, Africa, Middle East, and Asia with a focus on addressing root causes of conflict through sustained community engagement.

BBC Media Action uses media and communication to reduce conflict and build peace in fragile states. Programs include radio dramas addressing ethnic tension, TV debates promoting dialogue, and digital platforms for citizen engagement. Active in countries including Nigeria, Myanmar, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mercy Corps implements youth-focused programs across Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq to build resilience and social cohesion among conflict-affected communities. Uses sports, arts, and dialogue to bring together diverse groups and address drivers of conflict and extremism.

UNDP's flagship research and programming initiative understanding why young Africans join violent extremist groups. The 'Journey to Extremism' study interviewed 718 former voluntary recruits across Africa, revealing that 71% cited a government action (often killing or arrest of family member) as the tipping point for joining. This evidence informs UNDP's prevention work in 40+ countries, addressing 'push factors' (poverty, marginalization, governance failures) and 'pull factors' (belonging, purpose, financial incentives) through development interventions.

A global youth-led initiative founded by Kofi Annan empowering young people to prevent violent extremism through peer-to-peer approaches. Operating across South/Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Sahel, the program has trained 10,000+ young people in PVE and engaged 15,000 in dialogue activities. Young leaders develop local chapters and lead community initiatives including intergenerational dialogues, artistic performances, and awareness campaigns promoting 'togetherness' as counter-narrative to extremist ideologies.

UN Office of Counter-Terrorism's flagship youth program in Southeast Asia and East Africa building young people's capacity to participate in P/CVE policymaking. Includes three components: training young religious leaders in interfaith dialogue (Empowering Dialogue and Interfaith Networks - EDIN); equipping young media makers with strategic communication skills for online counternarratives (Young Leaders for Online PCVE); and supporting youth participation in national and regional P/CVE action plans.

Novissi is Togo's groundbreaking AI-powered mobile money cash transfer program launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program uses machine learning algorithms combined with satellite imagery and mobile phone data to identify individuals living in extreme poverty. Satellite images analyze roof material density and land plot size, while ML algorithms examine call records, internet usage, and mobile money balances to estimate individual wealth. The program distributed US$34 million to over 920,000 people (25% of Togo's adult population) using mobile money compatible with 2G phones via USSD technology, reaching those without internet access.

NaijaHate is a World Bank SocialAI initiative developing context-specific AI algorithms for hate speech detection on Nigerian Twitter. Recognizing that AI models trained on Western datasets perform poorly in Global South contexts, the project created a dataset of 35,973 annotated Nigerian tweets and a pretrained language model (NaijaXLM-T) tailored to Nigerian English and Pidgin. Four Nigerian annotators representing Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Fulani ethnic groups labeled content as hateful, offensive, or neutral. The research found traditional HSD models overestimate real-world performance by two-fold, highlighting the need for culturally-aware AI in content moderation.

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) implements community dialogue and media-based peacebuilding programs across 35+ countries. Their approach uses participatory media production, community radio, and facilitated dialogue to transform conflict, build trust between divided groups, and promote social cohesion in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

A strategic education program developing knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors for learners to become responsible global citizens. Uses three learning domains—cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral—to foster peace, tolerance, inclusion, and sustainability through project-based learning.

An intercultural leadership program cultivating youth leaders for dialogue, cohesion, and peace since 2010. Participants attend intensive training workshops, develop community-based action plans, and upon implementation become recognized 'Ambassadors' committed to peace and conflict resolution.

The world's largest peacebuilding organization using media and communications to prevent violent extremism. Since 1982, SFCG has used TV dramas, radio soap operas, and digital campaigns to transform conflict across 30+ countries. Signature programs include Studio Ijambo (Burundi, credited with helping avert genocide through Hutu-Tutsi dialogue) and The Team (soccer drama series promoting peace). Their 'Common Ground Approach' builds bridges across divides through collaborative storytelling and community-led counternarratives to extremism.

A targeted P/CVE program in Kenya's coastal counties (Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu) working with high-risk individuals vulnerable to violent extremist organization recruitment. Uses a diagnostic approach to identify at-risk youth without stigmatization, then delivers 5-month integrated intervention packages including mentorship, trauma counseling, sports, livelihoods training, and governance dialogues. Research showed 22% reduction in likelihood of justifying violence and 20% increase in participants' sense of agency.

IOMs Community Stabilization Programme in Iraq addresses post-ISIS conflict through an integrated approach combining social cohesion, mental health (MHPSS), livelihoods, and protection services. Since 2006, IOM has supported Iraqi communities through the Community Revitalization Programme. Key activities include: community centers for IDP-returnee-host interaction, dialogue groups, non-competitive sports, mediation training, and memorialization/storytelling. MHPSS services include psychiatric consultations, support groups, relaxation workshops, psychological first aid, and suicide prevention awareness. IOM collaborated with Government of Iraq on national suicide prevention strategy. Livelihood support includes vocational training and income generation grants. Protection services address GBV, trafficking, and housing/land/property documentation.