About Us
We are mayors, city leaders, civil society members, and representatives of international organizations and urban networks, working to reduce urban violence and build peaceful, just, and inclusive communities.
The Challenge
More people are dying on the streets of the world's cities than in conflict zones—yet society has failed to give the problem sufficient attention.
The Solution
Successful efforts to solve the challenges of urban violence are underway, and these approaches can be replicated around the world.
Now in its 5th year, Peace in Our Cities is a unique global platform.
Peace in Our Cities launched in September 2019, with 11 mayors and six global partners worldwide committing to taking accelerated action to build peace. The pace of the network’s growth has been fueled by the commitments of its cities and partners.
Participants at the Peace in Our Cities convening in Medellín, Colombia, June 2023.
Peace in Our Cities is the only global network working to reduce urban violence by engaging both mayors and local civil society to amplify the scale and solutions of the urban violence problem, advance evidence of what works to reduce urban violence, and accompany local experts and city leaders in their violence reduction priorities.
Peace in Our Cities provides evidence-based resources to its members, including the Guiding Principles and Inspiring Actions report, which showcases how to implement evidence-based interventions, allocate resources to specific interventions, and how government actors can work with civil society organizations to prevent violence. The network also published Lessons from Effective Offices of Violence Prevention (OVPs), which aims to optimize the how OVPs operate and inform the wider violence prevention field by reviewing how to make these efforts more effective.
In 2020 Peace in Our Cities launched the Peace Incentive Fund (PIF), which invested in city-focused violence reduction and prevention projects based on five member priorities: 1) violence in informal settlements; 2) violence associated with organized crime/criminal groups, 3) violence against women, 4) fostering healthy relationships between communities and law enforcement, and 5) online violence. Over 144,800 citizens and residents worldwide directly and indirectly benefitted from the various projects, leading to a reduction of violence indicators in 8 cities across 6 countries. The second PIF is being launched in 2025.
Today, Peace in our Cities includes 24 cities and 40 CSO partners. Like the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Peace in our Cities seeks to become a preeminent organizing body that unites cities and local leaders to collaborate on solutions to a pressing global problem. Peace in Our Cities sets our North Star as Sustainable Development Goal 16.1—to significantly reduce all forms of violence, focusing on the most serious forms of violence in cities where the majority of humanity resides.
Our Network
What sets the Peace in Our Cities apart is our sole focus on reducing and preventing urban violence by exchanging known solutions. Discover our network and consider joining us!
Our Team
Peace in Our Cities is a member-driven network organized by a secretariat of partners: the University of San Diego's Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice; Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just, and Inclusive Societies at New York University's Center on International Cooperation; and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
Rachel Locke
Director, Violence, Inequality and Power Lab, Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego
Daniel Friedman
Program Director, Halving Global Violence, New York University’s Center on International Cooperation
