Trustbuilding for Conflict Resolution and Lasting Peace
We equip people across divided communities to build genuine relationships, heal historical wounds, and work together across religious, ethnic and political lines.
Why trustbuilding matters
Societies across the world face racial and religious divides, intergenerational tensions, rising extremism, and the legacy of war. These fractures weaken institutions, erode social cohesion, and limit economic opportunity for the next generation. When trust breaks down, polarisation deepens and cooperation becomes harder to sustain.
Trust is the foundation of peaceful societies. It enables people from different backgrounds to listen, collaborate, and resolve differences without violence. It strengthens institutions, supports inclusive leadership, and builds resilience in times of crisis.
Peace agreements alone do not secure lasting peace. That requires rebuilding trust between individuals, communities and institutions, creating conditions for reconciliation, shared prosperity, and long-term stability.
How the Trustbuilding Program Works
Our approach links personal transformation to societal change, helping individuals build relationships across divides that collectively strengthen social cohesion.
Our work is grounded in a proven peacebuilding methodology developed over more than a century.
People who once saw each other as adversaries are now leading dialogue in their own communities together.
In Burundi, Chandelle grew up in a displacement camp surrounded by ethnic mistrust, the Trustbuilding Program was the first time she encountered another community's pain and found space for forgiveness. In Indonesia, Bunga, a Shia Muslim student, arrived at her first session fearing judgment, and left having experienced genuine acceptance for the first time. In Nigeria, Bob's deep distrust of the police shifted to empathy through the Police I Care Initiative.
Stay connected with the Trustbuilding Program. Receive updates from our projects around the world.
Trustbuilding Countries & Projects (current and previous)
Each project is locally led and community owned. Explore our work by country to learn how trustbuilding takes shape in different contexts.
Across all active projects, the reach of the Trustbuilding Program has grown steadily since its inception.
25,100+
Total reach
4,320+
People trained
1,860+
Trustbuilding events held
61,900+
Volunteer hours contributed
These figures reflect a growing global movement of locally-led peacebuilding, active across four continents.
Evidence and Learning
All Trustbuilding projects are supported by a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework that tracks how dialogue and reflection processes translate into measurable change at individual and community level. Principles Focused Evaluation is the evaluation strategy we implement to capture both quantitative reach and qualitative transformation, recognising that trust, empathy and reconciliation are not easily reduced to numbers alone.
Independent Evaluation of the International Trustbuilding Program
Randall Puljek-Shank and Valery Perry
December 2024 – April 2025
The evaluation draws on 56 key informants, 23 in-person consultations, 70 survey responses (TBP team members, partners and participants on the ground), and three in-depth country case studies (TBP Kenya, Indonesia, and Australia).
Recognised and Supported By
The Trustbuilding Program is recognised internationally for its impact and methodology:
🏆 Intercultural Innovation Award 2021
Awarded by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations & BMW Group, recognising innovative approaches to intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding.
UN ECOSOC
IofC International holds special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Council of Europe
IofC International holds participatory status at the Council of Europe.
We work in partnership with:
Fetzer Institute - Founding partner of the Trustbuilding Program
The Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers - Bridging grassroots peacemakers and global players for sustainable peace. IofC International is a member of the network.
Our success stories and lessons learned.
Contribute to Trustbuilding Worldwide
Read More About Our Work
Leran More About the Trustbuilding Program
The design of the Trustbuilding Program is inspired by decades of focused work through the methodology developed in Richmond, Virginia, USA, where people of all backgrounds worked courageously for racial reconciliation. It produced a tried and tested method, carefully documented and rigorously evaluated, which earned national and international recognition.
- Rob Corcoran - Program Design & Training consultant
- Olga Merezhuk - Program Assistant
- Manon Michelle Monhemius - Communications Officer
- Talia Smith - Program Manager
- Jessie Sutherland - Evaluations Consultant
A Program Steering Group governs the Trustbuilding Program: Barry Hart (Chair); Ron Lawler; Sylvester Jones, Hengi Bayat; and Patrick McNamara (IC Representative). Talia Smith - Planning Committee Chair
Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies. We play our part in the broader conflict prevention agenda by addressing this goal.
Resources and best practices from the Trustbuilding Program and its project teams.
The Guardian Nigeria: Group partners police and civil society for community trust
Indonesian Academic Journal: Interfaith Dialogue, Collective Trauma Healing, and Youth Peacebuilding in the Global South — A comparative study of Trustbuilding Programs in Indonesia and Kenya
Additional coverage
British Vogue · Kompas (Indonesia) · TVRI (Indonesia) · Daily News Precise (Nigeria, x2) · Annapurnapost (Nepal, x2) · Binus University (Indonesia) · JakartaNexus (Indonesia) · Metrum (Indonesia) · Pas Jabar (Indonesia) · Nepal Samaya · Ekantipur (Nepal ) · Our Koshi (Nepal)