Fast Facts

Interpeace has been enabling societies to build lasting peace since 1994.

About Us

Interpeace is an independent, international peacebuilding organization and strategic partner of the United Nations.

We were created by the United Nations in 1994. We became an independent organization in 2000 while maintaining a unique partnership with the UN. As a result, we operate either as an independent NGO or as a UN initiative.

Interpeace is headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland) and has offices in Brussels (Belgium), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Nairobi (Kenya) and New York (USA).

We are governed by a Governing Council made up of prominent individuals from the government, international and business sectors. The Governing Council is chaired by the former President of Ghana, John A. Kufuor and includes seats for the personal representative for the UN Secretary-General and the Host Government, Switzerland.

Through our Advisory Council we bring together governments, multilateral and UN agencies, and experts to analyze the latest in peacebuilding trends.

The Secretariat is led by Scott M. Weber, Director-General and a dedicated staff from around the world.

The three main bodies of Interpeace, the Governing Council, Advisory Council and the Secretariat, provide the necessary support to over 300 peacebuilders in the field. Consisting exclusively of people from the societies in which we are active, our local teams lead the programmes on the ground.

Our Work

Our approach contributes to building lasting peace through inclusive and nationally-led processes of change.

Our added value is our tested approach in strengthening capacities within societies to manage conflict without resorting to violence or coercion.

Peacebuilding must be led and owned from within a society so we work exclusively with national teams in countries across Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe and the Middle East.

We support peacebuilding initiatives in: Belize, Burundi, Costa Rica, Cyprus, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Israel, Liberia, Libya, Nicaragua, Palestine, Panama, Rwanda, Somali Region and Timor-Leste.

Programmes in Côte d'Ivoire, the African Great Lakes region, Madagascar and Mali are currently under development.

We also have a thematic programme covering Constitution Making for Peace, a handbook on options for making and reforming constitutions.

We combine our local peacebuilding knowledge with the latest in international thinking to assist the international community, including the United Nations, to play a more effective role in supporting peacebuilding efforts around the world.

Our Finances and Support

We are a non-profit organization. Our peacebuilding work is funded by generous voluntary contributions from governments, multilateral organizations, foundations and private individuals.

Our donor governments and multilateral organizations work with us through our Donor Committee.

Our 2011 expenditure of US $ 16.5 million reflects the growing demand for our support and expertise from governments, civil society, donor countries, UN agencies and other international organizations.

Our 2011 financial reports were, for the third year, in accordance with the highest financial reporting standard – IFRS. In 2010 we also received ZEWO certification from the Swiss charity evaluator. This demonstrates our focus on providing transparency and accountability for all our stakeholders.