Despite the repeated call for multidisciplinary collaborations, several presenters acknowledged that the participation of invited government agencies on the workshop panel represented the first time that many of them had ever been in the same room together to talk about violence prevention. While information could be exchanged and a common agenda developed among the agencies for violence prevention, it was also acknowledged that respect for differences in agencies would have to be maintained to facilitate effective collaboration. One important message from this panel was that, while additional research is necessary to build the evidence base for violence prevention, enough is currently known to adapt programs and polices in developing countries to increase gains in violence prevention.
Workshop participants met in small groups to brainstorm ideas for how to move violence prevention forward, with an emphasis on increasing investment or involvement from the U.S. public and private sectors, which can be found in the last chapter. The most often cited were
integrating violence prevention with economic development and corporate interests;
using the evidence base and precise language to tailor arguments for violence prevention to potential partners;
building capacity in developing countries to contribute to the evidence base for violence prevention, while advocating for administrative, policy, or legislative changes that increase the ability of U.S. agencies to engage in international activities for violence prevention; and
developing strategic alliances with professional, political, and civil associations and organizations.
Given the evidence presented during the workshop, an effective coalescence among researchers, policy makers, advocacy organizations, funders, and communities around a common framework and agenda that utilizes a public health approach could transform isolated efforts into an international, violence prevention movement—a movement from which everyone on the planet could reap immediate and future benefits.