Preventing Violence: Achieving Greater Impact through Innovative Partnerships

Consulate General of Switzerland in New York and

Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF)
Wednesday, 8 February 2017
6:00-8:00 p.m.

The current conflation of global crises has placed extraordinary pressures on government
resources, requiring non-governmental and non-traditional stakeholders to play a larger role in
order to realize mutual benefits. The Geneva-based Global Community Engagement and
Resilience Fund (GCERF) is a public-private partnership preventing violent extremism, a
challenge which in turn magnifies other crises such as displacement, inequality and exclusion. As
a multi-sectoral global fund, GCERF provides a case study in the promise and pitfalls of
partnering with foundations, philanthropists, and the private sector to engage in politicallysensitive topics to which governments alone cannot respond.
On 8 February 2017 at 6:00 p.m., the Ambassador and Consul General of Switzerland in New
York, Andr Schaller, will host a panel discussion featuring the Global Community Engagement
and Resilience Fund, to showcase how the Fund mobilizes actors towards an integrated
response; and the difference GCERFs programs are making in the lives of individuals and
communities. This event will provide a unique opportunity to gather leaders from the
philanthropic and corporate world, two communities that offer valuable insight, added value,
and impact in the fields of peace and security.
GCERF is a multi-stakeholder, international organisation operating at the nexus of security and
development. GCERF develops innovative support mechanisms such as co-financing and the
provision of technical expertise to companies that invest in projects targeting underlying drivers
of conflict, supplying talent to growing companies, or fostering small business ownership.
GCERFs approach is based on the assumption that community resilience is threatened or
undermined by factors such as poor social cohesion, inadequate empowerment of women and
other agents of change, the swamping of moderate religious voices by radical messaging, a lack
of critical thinking, and a lack of constructive alternatives especially for youth. Initiatives that
GCERF supports include trainings on non-violent conflict management/peace and reconciliation;
implementing peace and conflict resolution mechanisms; inter- and intra-faith dialogue;
research; journalist training; community dialogue; and economic empowerment through
income-generating activities and vocational training. GCERF is currently supporting 60
initiatives in Bangladesh, Mali, and Nigeria, engaging nearly 600,000 direct beneficiaries. The
organisation will be funding initiatives in Kenya, Kosovo, and Myanmar in 2017.
Participants will hear about the possible synergies in working with GCERF and be shown videos
highlighting GCERFs activities, which will provide a backdrop to the panel discussions.