Cure Violence rises to No. 14 on global NGO list

Cure Violence uses disease control and behavior change methods to reduce violence around the world, says founder Gary Slutkin. — Photo: Ed Kashi

Cure Violence is ranked 14th in NGO Advisor’s new 2016 report of the Top 500 NGOs in the world, one of the definitive international rankings of non-governmental organizations. Cure Violence has been among the top 20 NGOs ranked by NGO Advisor for three consecutive years and has moved up three places from last year.

The ranking and methodology are online.

Cure Violence, founded in 1995 by Gary Slutkin, professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and formerly of the World Health Organization, uses disease control and behavior change methods to reduce violence in communities around the world. Cure Violence works to lessen gang and youth violence, as well as cartel, tribal, election and prison violence and is increasingly being consulted on violent extremism. The organization has partners on four continents, including more than 50 communities in 31 cities.

“We’re very grateful for this ranking and see it as a recognition of both the importance of the work of reducing violence and the impact of the public health approach in addressing the problem,” Slutkin said. “As we are largely a guiding and training organization, we give great credit to our many partners in the U.S. and around the world who are doing such great work in making their communities safer by implementing health methods to treat violence.”

Cure Violence has demonstrated effectiveness in stopping lethal violence, particularly shootings. Several external evaluations have shown its approach reduces acts of violence by 40 percent to 50 percent in the first year, and up to 70 percent over a two- to three-year period. Reductions in violence begin almost immediately when implemented in a community.