Working in Crises and Conflict

USAID activities strive to address the underlying problems that cause violent conflict, as well as mitigate immediate threats to peace and stability.

USAID was instrumental in helping to establish Kenya’s first National Policy on Conflict Management and Peace Building. Work now continues with the National Steering Committee—the government agency tasked with managing conflict mitigation efforts—to turn this policy into law and legally establish a national framework to coordinate cross-government efforts.

In conflict-prone areas, USAID is working to strengthen the ability of District Peace Committees, local leaders, civil society organizations and youth networks to prevent and mitigate violence. Interventions include training, mediation, sports events, soap operas, neighborhood work projects and peace-building dialogues between ethnically diverse communities. Work also continues with journalists and local media to report sensitively and peacefully especially in conflict-prone areas.

Humanitarian Assistance

In anticipation of a looming severe drought, USAID began pre-positioning food assistance in the eastern Horn of Africa in late 2010 and providing significant humanitarian assistance in early 2011. Following below-average rainfall in spring 2011 in the Horn of Africa, food security sharply deteriorated. USAID assistance includes food aid, emergency relief supplies, health interventions including therapeutic feeding for malnutrition, protection for vulnerable populations, and water and sanitation improvements.

Fact Sheet: Mitigating Conflict

Related Links

Fact Sheet: Countering Violent Extremism