Formation 1985 | Location London, UK | |
Founder Leo Kuper, Michael Young, Martin Ennals, Luis Kutner Merger of Standing International Forum on Ethnic Conflict, Development and Human Rights; International Alert on Genocide and Massacres Registration no. Charity Commission number: 327553 Slogan Peace is within our power | ||
International Alert is a non-profit organisation focusing on peacebuilding activities. It has been independently characterised as a "major non-governmental organization" and a "major driver of change in international politics" that makes "conflict prevention and resolution issues an important sphere of action among governments, IGOs and NGOs." Its publications are required or recommended reading at a number of higher education institutions, and its work has received attention in both mainstream and specialist media.
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Data mining for conflict prevention
International Alert was an early advocate for the development of conflict early warning systems. Its work on gender and peacebuilding was important in establishing the necessity of incorporating gender relations and female stakeholders in conflict early warning systems.
By the early 1990s, International Alert was using the HURIDOCS database in conjunction with early Internet conferencing systems, to enable it to keep abreast of and interact with "local and international nongovernmental organizations and international experts." Through the mid-1990s, by applying a combination of manual and automated analysis in conjunction with such systems, researchers collaborating with International Alert performed early data mining research, demonstrating the viability of this approach for predicting conflict outcomes and encouraging the development of a website for the African Union's Continental Early Warning System (CEWS).
Millennium Peace Prize for Women
In 2001, as part of International Alert's Women Building Peace campaign, the organisation collaborated with the United Nations Development Fund for Women awarded a Millennium Peace Prize for Women.
Peacehack
In 2015 and 2016, International Alert organised a series of hackathons called Peacehack, exploring ways information technology might be used to reduce conflict by discouraging hate speech.