War continues to exact a terrible human toll, killing tens of thousands of people each year, driving millions from their homes, contributing to famine and threatening outbreaks of once-eradicated diseases.

The past few years have seen an uptick in the number of people killed by wars. More people around the world are displaced, many due to armed conflict, than at any time since 1945. Mounting tensions among major powers and the increasing assertiveness of many other capitals often hinder peacemaking or even fuel fighting. Impunity for mass killing runs rampant. 

The International Crisis Group’s mission is to stop all this needless suffering.

Crisis Group is a global conflict prevention organisation. We are the first port of call for analysis of the high-profile crises of the day, and a vital, often solitary voice calling attention to forgotten wars. Our methodology is based on in-depth research in which we talk to all parties in conflicts and crises. We forge innovative but realistic recommendations for those in a position to make a difference: from the conflict parties themselves to civic leaders and policymakers in influential regional centres and global capitals. We then advocate for these recommendations both privately – directly with those we aim to inform – and publicly through the media and other venues. 

Under my leadership, everything Crisis Group does will remain focused on a single task: saving lives and minimising suffering due to war.

I am hugely proud to lead this organisation. It is a privilege to work with my brilliant colleagues – more than 150 staff, as well as dozens of volunteers, from 35 countries around the world – at a time when demand for Crisis Group’s ideas is greater than ever and still growing. Policymakers in governments, international organisations and elsewhere increasingly turn to us for nuanced and empathetic but straight-shooting analysis as well as advice that is both imaginative and pragmatic. Our presence in the countries we cover gives credibility to our analysis and policy ideas. It positions us well to show the interplay of local dynamics with major and regional power politics. Our access to policymakers worldwide allows us to push for change at the highest levels.

Crisis Group continues to evolve, even as we shore up our core strength of in-depth regional coverage. Our Future of Conflict program – analysing how climate change, digital technologies and global economic trends are shaping conflict dynamics – is expanding. Our Gender Project, looking at how gender affects conflict and peacemaking, is going from strength to strength. We are integrating new methods, from an increased emphasis on dialogue and convening, to quantitative modelling alongside our traditional qualitative research.

We need your help. Even as war appears to be on the rise, global spending on peacemaking is shrinking. Crisis Group’s research and advocacy for peace cannot happen without the support of our friends, allies and donors. Your investment in Crisis Group will help us help those who need it most: the victims and ­potential victims of war.

Our vision at Crisis Group is a safer world where all people are free of the threat of war, not only protected from harm but also able to pursue more fulfilling, prosperous lives. To make such a world, we must end armed conflict, ideally stopping it before it starts, but certainly halting it as soon as possible once it has begun. We must also do all we can to ease the pain of wars that stubbornly persist.

Peace is not just the absence of war. The pillars of lasting peace, Crisis Group believes, are more inclusive politics; the reliable provision of basic public goods and services; and representative and accountable institutions that uphold human rights and the rule of law.

Our mission is to prevent or end deadly conflict around the world and keep its ravages to a minimum. When war looms, we sound the alarm; when war breaks out, we work to stop it; and when war drags on, we look for ways to alleviate the suffering it causes. Our central goal is to reach policymakers with timely analysis and prescription that impels them to act in the service of peace. To this end, Crisis Group conducts independent research in conflict zones, endeavouring to talk to all sides, and supplies expert advice and policy ideas to those in a position to make a difference.

Persistence pays off. Even in adverse political conditions, staying in the country and close to the peace process made others view us as a trusted partner. Our reputation for neutrality and impartiality helped enormously. We could talk to everyone – the government, the military, rebels and people in the countryside. The military wanted to engage with us because they knew we had spoken with the farmers and heard their honest perspective. Farmers wanted to engage with us because we had spoken to local officials as well as the government in Bogotá.

Reports and Briefings | Crisis Group’s flagship publications, of which we publish some 60-80 each year, are the base of much of our work, capturing the expertise of our analysts and fleshing out policy options to prevent, end or reduce violence.

CrisisWatch | Our global conflict tracker covers about 70 conflicts, crises and vulnerable countries every month. Crisis Group’s research team also monitors major developments in another 50-60 situations, with a view to detecting early signs of deterioration.

Watch Lists | Three times a year, Crisis Group publishes a Watch List for the European Union that identifies five to ten conflicts or crises in which prompt action by the EU and its member states would generate stronger prospects for peace.

Op-eds and commentaries | Crisis Group experts and analysts publish dozens of op-eds and commentaries each year to give additional impetus and prominence to our analysis and policy ideas.

Podcasts | Starting in 2020, we launched four podcasts as another means of disseminating our message and advocating for policy change. Our weekly podcast Hold Your Fire! hosts Crisis Group staff to discuss topical issues; The Horn, on East Africa, features Crisis Group analysts and newsmakers from the region; War & Peace covers European security, also drawing on a mix of Crisis Group and other experts, and Afrique 360, in French, that looks at the conflicts and crises driving the headlines on the African continent, featuring Crisis Group analysts and outside experts.

Visual explainers | Our visual explainers use the latest digital mapping technology to showcase conflict dynamics for policymakers. Our explainers have explored, among other things: how conflict-affected countries do not receive their fair share of climate financing; the effect floods, displacement and violence have had in South Sudan; the increase in maritime tensions involving Iran in recent years; how the war economy in Yemen is undermining peace efforts; and how climate change fuels deadly conflict.

Convenings | Our analysts conduct thousands of face-to-face meetings each year to exchange ideas, shape the debate and convince policymakers from all sides that our recommendations will lead to more peaceful outcomes. We also often bring relevant stakeholders together to discuss policy ideas.

Dialogues | Where there is demand, we bring together influential stakeholders in different conflicts and crises. Our dialogues aim to establish common ground between conflict parties, create channels of communication to avert escalation and enable parties to develop creative options for negotiated settlements.

Conferences | We attend high-level conferences throughout the year, including the Doha Forum, the Munich Security Conference, the Paris Peace Forum and the World Economic Forum, as well as multiple regional meetings, in order to advocate for our policy recommendations.

Strategic partnerships | Partnering with organisations such as the World Food Programme allows us to broaden our scope and reach and amplify our message. Such partnerships also allow us to view the dynamics of conflict holistically.

Online events | We organise a variety of online events to reach our audiences across the globe. Our events, whether a webinar or Twitter Space, allow for a lively interaction between our experts and external speakers, and include questions from the public. The attendees usually include a mix of academics, civil society representatives, government officials, journalists, policymakers and students.

Media | We position Crisis Group and our analysts as the go-to source of information and analysis on foreign policy and conflict dynamics. Our analysis is highly sought-after, with an average of more than 5,000 monthly mentions in local and international media. We arrange in-person as well as online press briefings to discuss our work on conflict prevention and peaceful conflict resolution, making us an influential and respected organisation in the field.

Sign up for more | Thanks to our donors, Crisis Group outputs are freely available as a public good. Sign up via www.crisisgroup.org/subscribe to receive emails when we publish reports or schedule events.

Averting violence in Kenya’s elections: Ahead of the August 2022 general elections in Kenya, we advised Kenyan and foreign stakeholders on ways to lower tensions in a highly polarised environment. The presidential contest pitting William Ruto against Raila Odinga was expected to be particularly hard-fought. We helped mitigate the risk of violence by urging EU election observers to prepare for the eventuality and the EU followed our recommendation to coordinate messaging with their counterparts from the African Union. After the polls, with the outgoing president disrupting the tally, our months of quiet advocacy underpinned by our June 2022 report detailing risks and opportunities paid off: the country saw a peaceful and transparent electoral campaign, signalling a win for democracy and the strength of Kenya’s institutions.

Helping rethink peace in Yemen: Crisis Group has shaped public discourse and engaged behind the scenes with all front-line actors of the Yemen war. Among our most notable successes was in 2018 when we advocated against a Saudi-led coalition offensive on the port of Hodeida, vital for humanitarian supplies. Our efforts helped avert that offensive, which would have worsened an already grave humanitarian disaster. Martin Griffiths, then UN envoy for Yemen, said, “The careful and rigorous reports of Crisis Group … give me a better chance of getting my job done.” Our landmark 2020 report Rethinking Peace in Yemen helped shape Yemeni and international thinking on the need for an inclusive political process, now enshrined in UN Security Council thinking and the UN special envoy’s approach to the conflict. In 2022, in line with the recommendations in our report on the war economy, the new UN special envoy opened up a new economic track in the peace talks.

Reorienting Western policy in Afghanistan: Having worked in Afghanistan since 2002, Crisis Group was well placed to help governments revamp their strategies toward the country when the Taliban returned to power. Our suggestions, which transcended mainstream thinking at the time, have come to inform policy shifts that ease Afghans’ suffering. We sounded the alarm that the economic disaster following the U.S. withdrawal could create the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Our December 2021 report called on Western governments to ease sanctions and gradually unfreeze state assets. We suggested that donors resume basic assistance for education, food security, small-scale infrastructure and rural livelihoods. The New York Times editorial board wrote a piece reflecting our recommendations and our bold suggestions helped create momentum for a reorientation in Western policy.

Maintaining pressure on South Sudan: Our October 2021 report underscoring the need to make South Sudan’s oil economy more transparent and accountable has resonated widely among our interlocutors. The UN’s South Sudan Panel of Experts echoed our recommendations in an April 2022 report highlighting the need for Juba to establish a single, designated oil revenue account. Our report still drives policy discussions among diplomats, with U.S. officials championing it at an October 2022 convening of Horn of Africa envoys. Additionally, an EU official termed it “world famous” and urged other European officials to study it during a January 2023 seminar of EU and members states’ South Sudan policies.

Countering UN sanctions snapback on Iran: As the Trump administration sought to reimpose pre-2015 UN sanctions on Tehran in 2020 in an effort to further undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we helped block the manoeuvre at the UN Security Council. Our August 2020 report detailed the dubious legal basis behind Washington’s attempts to reinstate terminated sanctions and recommended that other Council members simply ignore the initiative. The U.S. ended up isolated as all other Council members rejected the gambit despite considerable pressure from senior U.S. officials. Our report was also widely praised for predicting how the episode would play out and identifying the complex diplomatic tools other members could use to help preserve the JCPOA. Since then, the Biden administration has tried, but not yet succeeded in, restoring the nuclear deal. Had snapback occurred, such diplomacy would have become much harder.

Our headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium, where we manage global research and publications, media and digital platforms, government fundraising and administration. Research and advocacy on some 70 conflicts or crises are run by our regional and cross-cutting programs covering Africa, Asia, the Future of Conflict, Europe & Central Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, the Middle East & North Africa, and the United States. The programs’ policy advocacy and outreach around the world is supported from offices in Brussels, Bogotá, Dakar, Istanbul, London, Nairobi, New York and Washington DC.

We are influential in Western power centres, for example in Brussels where we engage with the European Union and its member states, providing analysis of the EU’s foreign, security and humanitarian policy, and its conflict prevention and crisis response efforts. In Washington, DC, we regularly provide briefings for U.S. government officials and members of both houses of Congress. Our expertise also carries considerable weight in New York, where we engage the UN and high-level representatives of countries from across the globe and have a dedicated UN team that writes regularly about the world body and its response to conflict and crises.

We also engage in many different parts of the world, whether in Ankara, Bogotá, Dakar, the Gulf or Nairobi. Our staff conduct more than 1,500 meetings per year worldwide with actors ranging from the chancellor of Germany and the prime minister of Iraq to Mexican drug cartel leaders and community leaders in Northern Nigeria. We convene workshops with local, regional and international stakeholders to share Crisis Group’s analysis and policy recommendations.

Crisis Group’s Future of Conflict Program focuses on three issues that are redefining the conflict landscape: climate change, digital technologies, and the economics of conflict, including economic fragility and war economies. Climate change is increasing food insecurity and water scarcity while disrupting livelihoods and spurring displacement. Online tools and digital technology are transforming political and social orders, from social media platforms fomenting unrest to cyber weapons for waging war and suppressing dissent. Economic fragility and wartime profit incentives are posing new challenges to middle income countries, threatening pathways to peace and exacerbating the humanitarian impacts of conflict.

The International Crisis Group is financially supported by a diverse base of donors. We receive approximately half of our income from governments, one quarter from foundations, and one quarter from corporations and individual philanthropists. More than half of all contributions to Crisis Group are unrestricted (“core funds”), which is crucial to maintaining our global presence and our ability to allocate time and resources to address rapidly emerging crises. Senior officials tell us that our reports are often the first they turn to in a crisis, partly because, unlike diplomats on short tours of duty, our analysts have usually been engaged on the places they cover for a decade or more. 

We are guided by a gift acceptance and donor due diligence policy that guarantees our impartiality, independence, and reputational and financial security. We engage substantively with funders through private policy briefings, roundtables and quick access to experts and senior staff. Philanthropists enjoy opportunities to meet with experts, trustees and other donors through events, board meetings and country visits. At the same time, we maintain full control over what we say and do. For a more in-depth overview of our financials, please visit our website.

In June 2010, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development added Crisis Group to its Development Assistance Committee list, recognising that our actions to prevent or resolve conflict help poorer countries’ development performance. All contributions to Crisis Group can therefore be reported as Official Development Assistance (ODA), thus helping donor governments meet their ODA target.

Crisis Group’s Board of Trustees hail from over 30 countries and have served at the highest levels of government, business and intergovernmental institutions. Our Trustees include former leaders, such as presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers and ambassadors, as well as top professors and business leaders from around the globe with the ability to mobilise effective early action from policymakers and civil society.

The Trustees’ regional working groups act as sounding boards, including by reviewing Crisis Group reports before publication. Our Board meetings, traditionally held twice a year in rotating capitals, are intimate, intense, two-day-long opportunities for our Trustees to discuss Crisis Group’s policies related to our conflict prevention work across the globe. We pride ourselves on having Board members who can engage our analysts in a challenging debate about the drivers of conflict and effective ways to promote peace.

Click here for a full list of our trustees.

At Crisis Group we know that philanthropy can and does help avert and end deadly conflict. Whether you give to help understand a fresh emergency on the ground, to support our dialogue and advocacy work or to sustain the research undergirding our reports and policy recommendations, your gifts and grants save lives.

Our loyal donors are a cornerstone of this work. With your investment, we can find innovative solutions to help end the conflicts that are producing the greatest suffering.

Visit www.crisisgroup.org/philanthropy or contact [email protected].

In 1995, a group of prominent statesmen came together to create the International Crisis Group to serve as the world’s eyes and ears at the scene of impending conflicts. The group – led by Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Thailand, then President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Mort Abramowitz, former head of the UN Development Programme, then UN Deputy Secretary-General and UK Minister Mark Malloch-Brown and U.S. Senator George Mitchell – despaired at the world’s failure to respond effectively to tragedies in Bosnia, Rwanda and Somalia. They saw the need for an independent actor to help avoid such disasters in the future.

Shortly afterward, we opened our first office in London. Our inaugural project rallied international support for a credible vote in Sierra Leone’s crucial transitional election. We then started up our Bosnia work, initiating research in the Balkans, which gradually cemented Crisis Group’s reputation. By the end of 1996, we were working on several other issues, from the risk of mass killing in Burundi to possibilities for a democratic transition in Nigeria. 

In 1997, we shifted the headquarters to Brussels. The following year, we sounded the alarm weeks before ethnic violence exploded in Kosovo with a report that quickly became our most widely read publication up to that point.

In 2000, under the leadership of former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, Crisis Group entered a new era. Gareth turned Crisis Group into what it is today. We grew dramatically. We opened new projects in Africa and began covering Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Advocacy offices in New York, Paris and Washington pressed home our messaging in influential policy centres. Our first senior staff retreat brought a sense of community to the organisation. In 2003, we launched CrisisWatch, a monthly bulletin providing succinct updates on conflicts and potential conflicts around the world. By the time Gareth left in 2009, Crisis Group’s budget had grown to over $12 million with about 110 staff members. 

Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Canadian Supreme Court justice, succeeded Evans. Under Arbour, Crisis Group adopted a new strategy explicitly pairing “the local and the global”, continuing high-quality written work while accelerating our engagement with increasingly influential non-Western actors. Crisis Group also became more of an institution, with important new administration and staffing procedures.

In 2014, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who had been UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, took the helm as president. Under Jean-Marie’s leadership, Crisis Group expanded into more thematic areas of research, building on our expert coverage of individual crises, notably publishing our first global report, Exploiting Disorder: al Qaeda and the Islamic State, on Islamist militancy. 

In 2018, Rob Malley, Crisis Group’s former MENA Director and then Special Assistant to U.S. President Barack Obama, took over as President & CEO. Rob oversaw another expansion. Our thematic work accelerated with a new Future of Conflict program, looking at the intersection of conflict and climate change, digital technologies and the global economy. A new U.S. program studied how U.S. foreign policy affects conflict dynamics. Crisis Group also began to convene conflict parties in dialogues. Malley left at the start of 2021 to become U.S. President Joe Biden’s 
new Iran envoy. 

For the rest of that year, Richard Atwood, formerly Policy Chief, and Comfort Ero, then Africa Director, served as Interim President and Interim Vice President, respectively.

In 2022, Comfort Ero was selected as Crisis Group’s President & CEO, with Richard as Executive Vice President. Comfort has defined Crisis Group’s priorities for the coming years as (i) an increased focus on Crisis Group’s impact, (ii) further innovation in our coverage and method, (iii) improving the diversity of our staff and, critically, (iv) the wellbeing of Crisis Group’s 150 staff members.

During the first weeks of Comfort’s tenure, Crisis Group secured a $20 million grant – the largest in our history, thanks to the generosity of the Open Society Foundations – to support the organisation’s development, notably by reinforcing our communications and advocacy and enhancing our Future of Conflict work. In fiscal year 2022, our budget stood at a little over $22 million.