Nuru International celebrates the passing of the Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act by the U.S. House of Representatives

On November 27th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed critical bi-partisan legislation that Nuru International and a broad coalition of other NGOs have been tirelessly working on for over two years.

The Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act would require the U.S. Department of State, in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of Defense, and other federal agencies, to develop a new strategy to reduce and prevent violent conflict in fragile states. It would give the U.S. government the tools it needs for a long-term, coordinated approach to identify and mitigate the drivers of violence in order to prevent conflict and ultimately save lives.

Representative Keating, Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and Co-Chair of the Congressional Counterterrorism Caucus, said the following: “It could not be clearer to me that to be safer here at home, we need to address the root causes of fragility that leave communities around the world vulnerable to conflict and extremism. That’s exactly what this bill does. We have lost so many lives and expended so much on conflicts that don’t seem to ever get resolved. Addressing fragility brings us closer to the root causes of these conflicts and we owe it to our servicemen and women, to members of our foreign service, and to the American people to do that. Time and again, our research has shown that focusing on fragility will be a much more effective way of creating more sustainable peace and security around the world.”

Nuru CEO and Founder, Jake Harriman added, “In order to effectively address violent extremism and end extreme poverty in highly vulnerable and unstable regions, we need to take bold action. This legislation is a critical next step to ensuring the U.S. has innovative solutions to tackle these complex challenges, and we are looking forward to continuing this work in the next Congress.”

The passage of this bill is essential to Nuru’s work and the work of other NGOs operating in some of the most difficult rural environments to prevent and address challenges of violent extremism. Nuru will continue to work with the coalition and use its unique network of and relationships on Capitol Hill to further strengthen the bill and push for the full passage in the 116^th Congress. In order to effectively prevent and combat violent extremism and end extreme poverty in highly vulnerable and unstable areas, we need to take bold steps. Now is the time when our leaders are calling for more coordinated action using diplomacy, defense, and development together to achieve our goals. We can help to end the scourge of violent extremism and build a safer and more stable world and this legislation is a step towards achieving those goals.

See the full statement of the sponsoring members here.

About Marc Rahlves

Chief Operating Officer - Marc joined Nuru in 2014 and has over 15 years of experience in strategy consulting and general management. He worked nine years with Bain & Company, managing strategy development, operational improvements, private equity, and implementation projects in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Marc then served as the Chief Financial Officer of the global education nonprofit Escuela Nueva in Colombia, South America, before joining the Bridgespan Group in New York. Marc earned his MBA with emphasis on Entrepreneurship from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has a B.S. in Business Administration (finance and information systems) from the University of Colorado at Boulder.