Conflict cost the global economic market 9.46 trillion dollars in 2013, 45.2 million people worldwide live as refugees and over 114 million children do not get basic education. Local and global governance systems and structures that favor unilateral action have failed to adequately or efficiently resolve conflict and address what conflict does to our economic, social, and political systems. These
systems and structures are designed for stabilization, not conflict transformation or peace. However, without conflict transformation there can never be true stability. To effectively address our collective problems, a peacebuilding approach is needed, one that fosters broad and diverse partnerships across cultures. This requires collaboration and awareness between ethnic, religious, and national cultural groups as well as the cooperation of the public, private, and civil society sectors. With the world converging at unprecedented rates through enormous increases in travel, trade, and technology, now more than ever represents a golden opportunity for peacebuilding.
