Peace Research and Education Program (PREP) at IHDSC Welcomes Its Newest Program Area: The Peace Policy Pillar

Following many years of work advancing violence and conflict prevention and peacebuilding, the Prevention and Peacebuilding Program at NYU’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC) has joined NYU PREP and the Institute of Human Development and Social Change (IHDSC) family. Led by Céline Monnier, the Peace Policy Pillar brings together resources, expertise, and almost a decade of experience, international partnerships, and learning to strengthen NYU’s growing peace community.

The Peace Policy Pillar aims to bridge research and practice by translating evidence into more effective, context-specific conflict and violence prevention policies and international support., It  expands NYU’s research opportunities and international network connections and builds a cross-regional prevention knowledge community.

“At a moment when genuine peace seems to be a low priority for many actors globally, it is especially important that we at NYU demonstrate a commitment to peacebuilding by investing in peace research that can generate actionable policy approaches,” said PREP director Dr. Thomas Hill. “Bringing the Peace Policy Pillar to PREP will enhance our capacity as a program and as a university to contribute to increased peacefulness on a global scale.” 

Over the past decade, the program has worked to elevate conflict and violence prevention on the global policy agenda, connect policymakers, practitioners and researchers, and develop practical tools and guidance to support better prevention decisions. This work has included advancing National Prevention Strategies, contributing to key global policy processes including the UN’s New Agenda for Peace, the Pact for the Future and the 2025 Peacebuilding Architecture Review, and developing evidence-based guidance and tools for prevention.

The program builds on PREP’s nearly nine-year history of working with partners globally to improve peacebuilding practice through participatory research and education. The Peace Policy Pillar will serve alongside PREP pillars focused on Education and Innovation, creating new opportunities for collaboration and cross-disciplinary cooperation to drive innovation and real-world impact, and growing NYU’s tech ecosystem by using AI to support peacebuilding and prevention efforts.

“IHDSC is proud to support the addition of the Peace Policy Pillar to PREP’s peacebuilding efforts” remarked Dr. Erin Godfrey, Director of IHDSC and Associate Professor of Applied Psychology at NYU Steinhardt. “We see this as an exciting opportunity to expand the Institute’s impact by championing work that directly and indirectly relates to peacebuilding, including internationally through the work of Global TIES and other IHDSC affiliates, and domestically through our network’s commitment to community-based research-practice-policy-partnerships.”