UK, Australia, and Canada Announce Launch of Major New International Fund to Scale Civil Society and Tackle Root Causes of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The UK, Australia, and Canada announced the launch of a new international fund to scale civil society efforts addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The fund, a result of a nearly two-decade campaign by the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), will support over 200 NGOs working on projects such as bilingual schools, women’s entrepreneurship programs, and joint policy incubators. ALLMEP Executive Director John Lyndon stated that the initiative aims to merge grassroots strategies with diplomacy to include voices from both sides and build public support for conflict resolution. The fund will expand existing projects while investing in new ventures, with each of the three countries contributing £1 million to launch operations. Foreign Secretary Cooper highlighted the UK’s experience in similar peacebuilding efforts, such as the International Fund for Ireland, which preceded the Good Friday Agreement. The fund’s creation follows the 2020 U.S. Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, which allocated $250 million to peacebuilding initiatives. ALLMEP founder Avi Meyerstein emphasized the fund’s role in addressing skepticism about resolving the conflict, noting that the organization has worked for over 20 years to build a civil society network and advocate for international funding. The initiative includes a generational strategy to foster stability and reduce violence through sustained engagement. The fund’s launch coincides with a policy conference in Paris, where over 150 Israeli and Palestinian civil society leaders will meet ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit. The goal is to integrate civil society efforts more directly into diplomatic processes, ensuring long-term impact and societal transformation.