Issue Brief: Infrastructure for Peace
Over 1.5 billion people around the world live in a community affected by war, violence or high levels of crime, and over 526,000 people die each year as a result of violence or conflict; approximately one per minute.
Armed conflict wrecks lives, destroys the social fabric within and among communities, imposes economic burdens on countries that can ill afford them and extinguishes any hope of eliminating poverty for millions of people.
Preventing violence not only save lives, but is also cost effective. The cost of measures to promote dialogue and peaceful mediation in a country in order to prevent violent conflict is, on average, just 10 per cent of the cost of recovery after a civil war.
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PEACE is a network of interdependent systems, resources, values and skills held by government, civil society and
community institutions that promote dialogue and consultation; prevent conflict and enable peaceful mediation when violence occurs in a society. UNDP helps countries to establish and strengthen national peace infrastructure; the processes, policies and institutions that help design, support and enhance social resilience to violent conflict - and build sustainable freedom from strife.