By Ravenna Helson

It’s tempting to disengage from the news these days. Multiple wars. Poverty. Mass-migrations. Climate disasters. The crises seem unending with seemingly little we can actually do about it.

The horrific Israel-Hamas war is a case in point. Hamas managed to secure thousands of rockets, enabling them to inflict death and misery throughout Israel. In turn, Israel used its stockpiles to render the same type of destruction on Palestinians as part of an escalation that is leading to a massive humanitarian crisis. Had there been a recent sustained effort from both sides to invest in peacebuilding rather than military armaments, might this current atrocity have been prevented? Might reconciling the longstanding needs held by both Israel and the Palestinians have helped prevent this horrific war?

Sadly, we will never know.

But there are programs in place right now that work to prevent conflicts, repair and stabilize disrupted communities, and demonstrate cost effective positive change in troubled areas around the world. They make a difference by prioritizing investment in proven, fiscally responsible peace building initiatives over a traditional expensive arms race.

There are three essential international peace building programs that are in serious need of protection as the 2024 Congressional budget comes due.

The Reconciliation Fund works with local partners worldwide to bring conflicting and injured parties together. The Complex Crises Fund, the only account of its kind, responds quickly to early warning signs of instability and emergent crises by providing improved communication capabilities, helping to ensure local conflicts and mass violence are avoided. Lastly, the Atrocities Fund enables the State Department to implement specific programs to anticipate escalations of violence with the aim of prevention, but also to respond when mass atrocities have taken place. Like our local programs, these initiatives make a critical difference to communities, particularly with vulnerable populations in areas torn apart by war and poverty.

In my work as a music teacher with youth, I connect with families that have immigrated to the United States. Those here now are the lucky ones. The students are flourishing and their families contribute so much! Corruption and destabilization of communities elsewhere leaves youth in limbo, desperately seeking a safer place like the U.S. We can influence the tide of migration here and genocide elsewhere by supporting the growth of healthy economies abroad.

We know from local experiences, that prevention works. For example, the Milwaukee Freshwater Institute collaborates with the US National Geographic Survey to develop tools for improved forecasting of water level impacts on shoreline communities, affecting wild rice production and public safety. I am a reading tutor for the gold standard tutorial program developed by Common Ground called “Forward Scholars.” It is a program in the Milwaukee Public Schools that helps post-pandemic K-3rd graders read at grade level by third grade. In Milwaukee and other states, Violence Interrupter programs have been used successfully since the 1990s. In Baltimore, the Safe Streets program reduced homicides and nonfatal shootings by as much as 32%.

History has shown us that it is far cheaper and more effective to prevent and prepare for emergencies than to respond to them after they occur. The Institute for Economics and Peace found that for each dollar invested in prevention there is a $16 decline in the cost of conflict. As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres succinctly stated, “Instead of responding to crises, we need to invest far more in prevention. Prevention works, saves lives and is cost-effective.”

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, has already given her support for the three peace-building funds outlined here, and I hope Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, a fiscal conservative, will also advocate for peace building over expensive militaristic crisis management. Please urge all our congressional representatives in Wisconsin to back these programs during the upcoming congressional budget hearings. Because now, if we are not actively funding peace, we are passively funding war. That can’t be what we do.