In more than 40 countries around the world, violent conflict has torn through farmland, villages and cities. Throughout the world today, there are some 35 million survivors of conflict—10 million refugees and 25 million internally displaced persons. It has invaded their communities; destroyed their homes and livelihoods; killed, maimed and tortured loved ones; and exposed daughters, wives and sisters to sexual violence.
UNDP helps address the structural causes of violent conflict through development programmes that promote participation, dispute resolution and gender equality. UNDP takes a three-pronged approach to conflict prevention:
Youth and Violent Conflict: Identifying and including the specific needs of youth is essential to design effective responses for conflict prevention and peace building. UNDP has launched an initiative to better understand the interrelations between youth and violent conflict and published a report titled Youth and Violent Conflict: Society and Development in Crisis? (pdf) in 2006. Based on the report's recommendations, UNDP is now codifying country experiences with youth-related programming to develop practical guidance.
Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners, 2007 (pdf) 
