Author: Gregory Pirio

Dr. Pirio has been a global leader in the use of communications and the media for constructive social change. His professional activities have focused on an array of global health, conflict resolution, behavior change communications, media development and youth empowerment, among others. He has undertaken these activities in partnership with international organizations, bilateral organizations and international NGOs. He has also devised communication strategies for numerous health ministries.

Dr. Pirio has published extensively on public health and political issues including jihadism and peacebuilding. He also has extensive experience in journalism, media production and broadcasting as well as in business development, having led teams of broadcast journalists at the Voice of America in producing daily radio shows and video documentaries.

Dr. Pirio has worked professionally in more than 30 countries, working in English, Portuguese, French and Spanish. He has a Ph.D. in African History and a M.A. in African Studies (Both achieved from UCLA).

Making Education a Human Right in Angola

By Gregory Pirio

On June 17, 2025

In Videos

Angola has one of the lowest levels of education in the world despite being a country richly endowed with natural resources. In this video conversation, education activist Rafael Marques de Morais explains how making education a human right can turn this situation around, empowering youth and contributing to the well-being of Angolans. As Executive Director of the Ufolo Good Governance Center, Rafael has been working with the private sector to build badly needed schools in Angola. He is also Senior Advisor to the Extractive Industries and Human Development Center at the Institute of World Affairs. Rafael is joined by Gregory Pirio, Director of the Extractive Industries and Human Development Center, who has studied the role of schools in the promotion of peace and social cohesion. Veteran journalist Paul Ndiho leads the conversation.

This video podcast is a collaboration between Ndiho Media and the Institute of World Affairs.

Turning the 21st Century Mineral Rush into Opportunities for Human Development: The Potential of Schools as Instruments of Peace and Social Cohesion

By Gregory Pirio

On January 9, 2025

In Articles

The drive to invest large sums of money in mining and infrastructure projects in lower- income countries can lead to negative consequences for local communities, for governments and for investors unless accompanied by meaningful projects to promote human-centered development and security. There are ample examples where large investments have led to negative social outcomes for local communities including violent responses.

US-led initiatives are mobilizing unprecedented amounts of capital from the public and private sectors to diversify the sourcing and processing of minerals critical to the creation of climate-friendly economies and meeting demand triggered by technological innovations.

To ensure communities impacted by these investments prosper, community members must be full participants in designing human-centered projects with the aim of improving their lives and livelihoods. The provisioning of quality healthcare and education are typically high in the priorities of local communities. If local educational needs are not addressed, capital investments in the extractive sectors run the risk of alienating youth. This article reviews the literature largely with a focus on African countries to highlight sound practices that enables schools to become instruments of peace, conflict resolution, social cohesion and healthy behaviors, highlighting the best practices for obtaining positive outcomes and avoiding negative consequences.

Humanizing the Demonized: The Untold Stories of Immigrants

By Gregory Pirio

On September 30, 2024

In Articles

I have a confession to make. I am the child of immigrants, one of whom crossed our southern border a century ago, and so I am extremely sympathetic to the many people arriving at our southern border in search of a better life.

The demonizing of migrants for political ends by Donald Trump and other political figures angers me. The demonization needs to stop. This dehumanizing strategy is all about creating fear of others in an effort to manipulate people to support him as he promises to protect them from the demonized. It is a classic political manipulation technique. As a journalist, I witnessed how such demonization unfolded in the Rwandan genocide, and I wrote a book on Al Qaeda in eastern Africa, in which I recounted how Osama bin Laden and his subordinates used demonizing techniques to make people fearful, positioning them to commit violence against the “others.” We, Americans, can do better than this.