Peace and Governance focus areas

A mercy corps team member listening to a community member speaking.

The drivers of conflict are complex and interconnected. Conflict arises when weak sociopolitical, economic, and ecological systems break down. These breakdowns almost always result from poor governance: unaccountable or unresponsive institutions, inequitable access to services and resources, a lack of inclusive participation in decision-making processes, and low civil society capacity to address these challenges. At the same time, increasingly intense and more frequent climate-related shocks worsens conflict by heightening competition for increasingly scarce resources, exposing governance failures, and exacerbating inequities and marginalisation.

At Mercy Corps, our pathway to peace and good governance tackles these root causes and moves us closer to a world where people reduce or prevent violence, contribute to advancing sustainable please, and participate meaningfully in inclusive and responsive governance systems. Our programming holistically works across societal, community, and individual levels through the following key focus areas:

Climate-Conflict Nexus

While the relationship between climate and conflict is nuanced and context-specific, there is consensus that climate change is amplifying and compounding existing sources of economic, social, and political violence. For over a decade, Mercy Corps has been working across the globe building resilience to climate change, conflict, and other risk factors, to help communities achieve their long-term development goals. Discover more on our programming approach for addressing the intersections between climate and conflict through the resources below:

Gender, Peace, and Security

People’s gender identity and social gender norms fundamentally shape individual behaviour, cultural practices, and power dynamics. Mercy Corps’ Gender, Peace and Security approach values the intersectional identities of diverse people and how this shapes their priorities, values and perspectives regarding peace and conflict. Discover more on how Mercy Corps supports the meaningful inclusion and participation of women and marginalised identity groups in decision-making processes through the resources below:

Advancing Peace in Complex Crises

As the world’s crises become more protracted and complex, Mercy Corps applies our Advancing Peace in Complex Crises (APCC) framework to mitigate violence and advance peace across the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding nexus. Discover more about how Mercy Corps designs and implements programmes to tackle the multifaceted nature of today’s crises through the resources below:

Interest-based Mediation and Negotiation

Interest-based Mediation and Negotiation aims to create win-win solutions that satisfy everyone's interests and preserve or enhance their relationship. For 20 years, Mercy Corps’s IBMN framework has strengthened the capacities of local mediators to communicate constructively across lines of division to effectively resolve disputes. Discover more on our IBMN work and impact through the resources below:

Preventing Youth Violence

Understanding and addressing the systemic issues that drive youth to participate in violence and armed groups is fundamental to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Mercy Corps supports youth leaders and youth-serving organisations to establish and increase positive channels for youth engagement in civic, economic, and social spaces. Discover more on how we help young people pursue peaceful alternatives to violence and facilitate access to psychosocial support through the resources below:

Technology and Digital Peacebuilding

Violent conflict is on the rise, and technology and social media play an increasingly important role. Mercy Corps’ digital programming addresses the weaponisation of social media, as well as advancing online social cohesion and peace. Discover more on how we work with partners to anticipate and prevent online harm through the resources below:

Behaviour Change

Mercy Corps’ approach to Behaviour Change (BC) applies behavioural design strategies informed by social and behavioural sciences, or the systematic and evidence-based study of human decision-making that study how and why individuals make decisions and behave in certain ways. We blend behavioural design with community engagement and context analyses, based on the understanding that people have the right to lead on the choices affecting their lives.

Mercy Corps’ BC approaches strengthen norms, expectations, and experiences with participatory, accountable, and responsive governance at all levels – from the local to the national. Discover more on how our BC work fosters inclusive governance and promotes constructive engagement through the resources below:

Civil Society Capacity Strengthening

A strong, independent, endogenous civil society plays many important roles, often filling essential service delivery gaps, mobilising citizens to voice their concerns, and holding governance institutions accountable to community priorities. Mercy Corps supports strengthened independence and empowered voice among civil society organisations through equitable partnerships and appreciative self-assessments for institutional reflection. Discover more on how Mercy Corps supports civil society to fulfill its role in facilitating collective engagement and action through the resources below:

Community Mobilisation

Mobilising communities is a foundation of Mercy Corps work, across sectors and contexts. Tested and proven over three decades of programming, CATALYSE - Mercy Corps’ signature approach to mobilizing communities - empowers communities to identify and organise around collective priorities, mobilize resources, implement projects, and influence leaders. CATALYSE fosters peaceful, community-led change, strengthening bonds as diverse community members work together, and demonstrating the value of collective action and good governance principles. Discover more on CATALYSE and our community mobilization work through the resources below:

Social Cohesion

Social cohesion is at the heart of advancing secure, productive, and just communities. Our social cohesion approach, COALESCE, provides a safe, constructive space for excluded groups to gather, both separately and with leaders, and a process for exploring commonalities and unifying priorities that can break down barriers to participation in community-level decision-making structures. Discover more on how our social cohesion work increase collaboration around reducing violence through the resources below:

Evidence and Learning

Evidence generation, rapid learning, and real-time knowledge sharing are essential to ensuring responsive, adaptive, and impactful programming. Mercy Corps mainstreams data gathering and research across our peace and governance work - from programme monitoring and evaluation, to crisis analytics, to large-scale research projects. Our global Evidence and Learning Unit supports these integrated efforts to enhance the ways we use evidence to improve programmes, scale what works, and influence others. Discover more about our Evidence and Learning Agenda on Peace and Good Governance and how we apply our research and analytic capacity in evidence-driving programming through the resources below: