Issue

Conflict and Peace Building

Nearly 30 years after the Rwandan genocide, thousands of maimed amputees remind us of the war that took 500,000 lives in 100 days. War leaves marks that cannot be erased—not only in Rwanda, but on every continent.

Reporting from Conflict and Peacebuilding examines the roots of conflict, whether it be religious hatred, sectarian rivalry, a security vacuum, the struggle for natural resources, or the desperation that results from poverty.

Pulitzer Center journalists also cover war’s aftermath: the transitional governments that result in chaos, diplomacy that goes awry, peace talks that never end, and the people who suffer the consequences, young and old. We see the children who go hungry, lose their homes, leave school, become combatants, or join the jihad.

Often the end to conflict leaves turmoil in its wake while the road to peace seems circuitous: In South Sudan, rebel-commanders-turned politicians plunge the country into civil war. In the U.S., troops return home from one war only to be re-deployed to another. But everywhere, in every conflict, there are also voices crying out for peace, determined to heal the divide.

 

Conflict and Peace Building

AP Investigation: Food Aid Stolen As Yemen Starves

Documents reviewed by The Associated Press and interviews with al-Hakimi and other officials and aid workers show that thousands of families in Taiz are not getting international food aid intended for them.

Swapping Cocaine for Peace

A voluntary coca crop substitution initiative in Colombia is failing, but it is still the country’s best option to address its cocaine production problem.

The Redemption of MS-13

Danny Gold investigates the movement converting El Salvador’s gang members into born-again Christians.

Michael Kavanagh is a Finalist for Prestigious Radio Award

Michael Kavanagh's "A Call to Rebels," which aired on NPR's On the Media and is part of his The Roots of Ethnic Conflict in Eastern DRC reporting project, is a finalist in the New York Festivals Radio Programming and Promotion Awards. The recognition comes in the Best Special Report category.

For 52 years the New York Festivals Radio Programming and Promotions Awards has recognized The World's Best Work in radio broadcasting.

Round three: Winning essays

In June 2008, The Pulitzer Center partnered with Helium to continue its third round of the Global Issues/Citizen Voices Writing Contest. Contestants chose topics for their essays from prompts related to different Pulitzer Center reporting projects. Find their winning essays below.

How does stigma and discrimination, as witnessed in Jamaica, perpetuate the global HIV/AIDS epidemic?
Read winning essay by Glynnis Hayward