Mercy Corps [to 18 July 2015]
http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases

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A U.S. Humanitarian, Development and Peacebuilding Statement on the U.S. Global Countering Violent Extremism Agenda
July 20, 2015
Mercy Corps and 40 colleague agencies express concern that the Obama administration’s new nine-point Action Agenda to counter violent extremism will repeat the same mistakes as post-9/11 stabilization initiatives, mainly prioritizing military funding over investments in solutions addressing the root causes of instability. The coalition urges the administration to modify the strategy ahead of September’s global summit on countering violent extremism.
Full statement (PDF): 20July2015_Statement_U.S.GlobalCounteringViolentExtremismAgenda.pdf.

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Diversified Resilience Approach Key to Overcoming Cycles of Crisis
Uganda, July 17, 2015
New report warns against single-sector programs as solution to vulnerability
Washington, DC— As world leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week to discuss how to better meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, a new report by the global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps highlights the possible drawbacks of working through markets to combat poverty. More Than Markets: Building Resilience in Northern Uganda chronicles crisis and vulnerability in Uganda, concluding that long-term, coordinated approaches with local communities, governments, the private sector and other development actors are needed for countries to overcome lingering hardships and build resilience to crisis…

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Mercy Corps: Conflict Between Nigerian Rural Communities Takes Enormous Economic Toll
Nigeria, July 16, 2015
New research finds violent conflict in Nigeria costs the country nearly $14 billion annually in economic progress
Washington, DC – The growth of Africa’s largest economy is being stymied by decades-long disputes between farmers and pastoralists in Nigeria’s ethnically and religiously diverse Middle Belt region, according to new research by the global organization Mercy Corps. Nigeria would stand to gain up to US$13.7 billion annually in total macroeconomic progress if peace were maintained in four Middle Belt states alone. Skirmishes between Nigeria’s farmers and herders typically arise from disputes over the use of resources such as farmland, grazing areas and water. As conflicts escalate, often along identity lines, they feed into a deadly cycle of retaliation…