City Action for Peace Workshop – Washington, DC

As the United States and its global partners continue to expand the role of subnational diplomacy, in part to protect democracy and peace worldwide, Peace in Our Cities (PiOC) and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) are collaborating to launch a brief that reflects on global trends in urbanization and related challenges to peace and security that concentrate in urban areas worldwide. The brief will explore ongoing dynamic work to reduce violence in cities and the potential of urban networks and actors to advance peaceful, just, and inclusive societies. These networks, among others, seek to:

• Position mayors and local leaders as trusted partners for peace.
• Scale practical support to cities in their efforts to reduce chronic, systemic violence in their communities (ranging from interpersonal to political violence).
• Articulate actionable ideas on how multilateral and bilateral actors should account for current urbanization trends and support cities and local governments as innovation labs for urban violence prevention and reduction efforts.

Currently, cities are undervalued and underrepresented as key partners in working toward global violence reduction. Yet, we have watched cities and their leaders become essential stakeholders in other significant global issues such as climate change, trade, and migration. Cities are missing despite the reality that the vast majority of lethal violence globally occurs outside of traditional conflict zones, a large portion of which take place in urban areas. To make progress, this must change.