United States Institute of Peace

The United States Institute of Peace, an independent civilian agency, administers federal grants supporting conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and international conflict-resolution research and programming. USIP distributes grant funding to academic institutions, research organizations, and international bodies engaged in peace and security studies and field-based peacebuilding initiatives.

USIP has awarded 387 federal grants totaling $30.2 million in combined federal obligation since 2000, with activity distributed across 87 distinct recipients. Grant-making cadence over the last five years held steady at low single-digit awards annually: 4 awards in 2020, 3 in 2021, 6 in 2022, 3 in 2023, and 7 in 2024. The most recent recorded award closed in August 2024.

Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented. The top five recipients by award count account for 38 percent of recent awards; by federal dollars, the top five account for 29 percent. The Mitre Corporation leads by dollar value with a single $5 million cooperative agreement obligated within the last five years; Afrobarometer LBG follows with one $2.5 million award. United Nations University holds the most awards at two, totaling $426 thousand in federal obligation. The remainder of the recipient base is highly dispersed across academic institutions, research nonprofits, and international organizations, with no single entity commanding significant portfolio concentration.

Grants are overwhelmingly structured as Project Grants: 384 of 387 awards fall under that assistance type, with only 3 cooperative agreements representing 1 percent of the portfolio. This skew reflects USIP's emphasis on time-bound research and pilot programming over longer-term institutional partnerships.

No recent contract awards or contract opportunities are recorded against USIP or its sub-offices. No recent grant opportunities are recorded in available solicitation data, indicating that USIP likely operates a rolling or non-public grant solicitation process; prospective applicants should contact the agency directly to confirm current funding windows and program eligibility.