Brandeis University

04/27/2026 | Press release | Archived content

Brandeis Student Wins $10,000 Grant to Build Conflict Early Warning System in Pakistan

Brandeis Student Wins $10,000 Grant to Build Conflict Early Warning System in Pakistan

Four brothers tend sheep in Pakistan's Chakwal district.

Photo Credit: Zohaibtariq1/Wikimedia Commons

By David Levin
April 27, 2026 • Humanities and Social Sciences

Ali Arshad '28 (courtesy Ali Arshad)

Ali Arshad '28, a Wien Scholar and first-generation international student from Chakwal, Pakistan, has been selected as Brandeis University's 2026 Projects for Peace grantee. He will receive $10,000 to develop a community-based early warning system designed to prevent sectarian violence in rural villages in his home district.

Arshad is no stranger to community-based work. At Brandeis, he founded the Brandeis Peace Club, the university's first student-run think tank focused on global conflict and conflict resolution. He also previously led a measles vaccination campaign in Chakwal and earned the COMPACT x Brandeis Library Research Excellence Prize for a policy brief on Pakistan's polio eradication program.

His latest project through Projects for Peace involves the Nambardar system, a network of government-recognized village leaders who serve as trusted intermediaries between communities and local authorities in Pakistan. By training those leaders in conflict resolution and building a cross-village communication network, his project aims to identify early signs of sectarian tension - like rumors, hate speech, and social polarization - before they escalate into violence. The model is designed to be self-sustaining and replicable across Pakistan.

Read more about Arshad's project on the COMPACT website.

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