Location: Middle East & North Africa

When war breaks out, the world focuses — rightly — on the visible damage. Strikes. Casualties. Displacements. Shortages. But there is another layer of damage that rarely makes headlines.  For example in Iraq — where recovery from past wars intersects with ongoing regional power struggles — escalation doesn’t just destroy…

As crises grow in the Middle East, you can save lives. Our Teams Are Already Responding. Missiles are flying. Families are fleeing. Public services are shutting down. Retaliation is accelerating. This is not a warning phase. This is an active regional crisis. And the cost — human and economic —…

The Rights Advance: Improving Fundamental Freedoms and Human Rights in Iraq is a comprehensive 30-month project that will be implemented by the Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR), Search for Common Ground (Search), and the Iraqi al-Amal Association (IAA). This project aims to contribute to the improvement of the rights to…

The Iraqi Community of Practice (CoP) in Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance is a 24-month project implemented by Search for Common Ground (Search) and funded by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). The CoP is a community of 37 organizations operating throughout Iraq.…

This email series highlights voices of peace from around the world, to help you find yours. This month’s Voice of Peace is Mike Jobbins, Search’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Partnerships. Hear more from Mike about how Search is advocating for peace. Recently I had the opportunity to submit…

Peace doesn’t happen in conference rooms. It’s not built with signatures on treaties. It doesn’t live in legal agreements or policy documents. Real peace—the kind that lasts—happens in the everyday. It’s in the moments where neighbors show up for one another, where former enemies share a meal, where people choose…

Keynote: Shamil Idriss, Turning Conflict into Progress in Our Divided Times | SXSW EDU 2025, Austin, TX. Our world faces record-high political polarization. This isn’t just disagreement—it’s seeing others as existential threats, which often leads to violence. But conflict itself isn’t inherently destructive. Like friction, conflict is natural and inevitable—violence…

This email series highlights voices of peace from around the world, to help you find yours. This month’s Voice of Peace is Anaïs Caput, Search’s strategy and design senior specialist. If you were to ask what impresses me most about Search, my answer today would be the same as in…

With conflicts all over the world dominating the headlines and social media, it’s easy to feel pressured to take a side. Yet, the notion that we must pick a camp—“you’re either with us or against us”—is not the path to peace. True, lasting peace emerges when we step away from…

As the new year begins, the promise of a fresh start invites us to reflect on how we can make meaningful changes in our lives and communities. At Search for Common Ground, we believe that every new year brings an opportunity to deepen our commitment to resolving conflicts peacefully and…