Beyond Emergency Pandemic Response: The Case for Prioritizing Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention

Since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns emerged about its impacts on armed conflict, violence, and peace. Some have argued that the pandemic could accelerate the rising numbers of civil conflicts around the world, a trend already underway. Others have warned that absent new efforts to reinvigorate lagging peace processes, Covid-19 could exacerbate the conditions that foment internal conflicts, leading to an uptick in violence. Still, others have wondered whether there might be opportunities for peace in unifying behind a common enemy (in this case, a virus).