Humanity United Action applauds the introduction of the Global Fragility Act last week in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. H.R. 1580, introduced by Representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY), Mike McCaul (R-TX), Adam Smith (D-WA), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Bill Keating (D-MA), and Francis Rooney (R-FL); and S. 727, introduced by Senators Christopher Coons (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Todd Young (R-IN), are a critical step towards reforming how the United States government addresses violent conflict.

The bipartisan Global Fragility Act establishes an interagency initiative focused on preventing and reducing root causes of violence around the world. In collaboration with civil society actors, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies, are tasked with developing and executing a 10-year strategy addressing the fundamental drivers of conflict in a number of countries. This bill takes important steps to shift the U.S. government’s response to conflict to be more preventative, long-term, and coordinated. Additionally, in a welcome and necessary improvement from previous versions, this legislation authorizes the use of existing foreign assistance funds to support this new initiative

As violent conflict continues to take a devastating toll around the world, the United States must develop new approaches to address current levels of violence and prevent future conflict. This legislation, and investment in its effective implementation, will dramatically improve how the United States government responds to violence, and Humanity United Action calls on Congress to pass the Global Fragility Act as quickly as possible.