African Peacebuilding Network (APN)

Virtual Book Launch of Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding in Africa: Conceptual and Empirical Considerations

The virtual launch commenced with a brief introduction of the book, Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding in Africa, the co-editors, and reviewers by the program director of the Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa programs, Cyril Obi.  Professor Karoi Mbugua—chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Nairobi—and the representative of Dr. Pilisano Masake—dean of Human Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology—also provided remarks. The co-editors Jacinta Maweu and Admire Mare provided an overview of the book and some of the contributors spoke on their chapters. Mare provided …

Virtual Book Launch of When Peace Kills Politics: International Intervention and Unending Wars in the Sudan

The virtual book launch commenced with brief introductions of the author of When Peace Kills Politics, Sharath Srinivasan, and discussant, Devon Curtis, by the program director of the Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa programs, Cyril Obi. Sharath Srinivasan provided an overview of the book against the background of the theories, history, and practices of peacemaking in Sudan. He examined the roles of various national, regional, and continental actors such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union (AU), and the United Nations (UN), focusing on how international interventions

China-Africa Peace Research Fellowship, Writing and Research Workshops (New York)

The 2018-2020 cohort of the Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) China-Africa Peace Fellowship met for a second time for a research and writing workshop in New York. The first day of the workshop, (18 November 2019) served as an opportunity for Fellows to workshop and refine first drafts of their research papers through a collaborative exchange of ideas with Program Director Tatiana Carayannis, and a small group of invited scholars working on their topics. The SSRC’s China-Africa Peace Fellows received training and research support to travel to five field-work sites (Juba, South Sudan, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monrovia, Liberia, and Johannesburg,

Research Workshop on Disinformation, Democratic Processes, and Conflict Prevention

On January 30, 2020, the SSRC convened the second research workshop of its Academic Network on Peace, Security, and the United Nations in New York, an initiative of the Council’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum (CPPF) and its Understanding Violent Conflict (UVC) Program. This workshop, on “Disinformation, Democratic Processes, and Conflict Prevention,” examined the frameworks, findings, and debates in emerging scholarship on information disorder and the linkages between disinformation, elections, hate speech, and identity-based violence. Participants drew on cases in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The workshop also explored the ways in which disinformation affects the UN conflict prevention agenda, and how the UN

International Peace Research Association (IPRA) 28th Biennial Conference, Nairobi

African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (NextGen) fellows were part of the delegates of the 28th Biennial IPRA conference, that was held in Nairobi Kenya, from January 10-15, 2021. IPRA’s purpose is to advance research into the conditions of peace and the causes of war and other forms of violence. The theme of this years’ conference was on ‘Peace-Technology: Positioning the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Emerging Technologies in Fostering Global Peace.’ The program director of the Social Science Research Council’s APN and Next Gen programs, Cyril Obi gave a welcome address to delegates during the

The African Peacebuilding Network Grantee Research Methods Training and the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Bi-Annual Fellows Joint Virtual Workshop

The Social Science Research Council’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) programs had their first virtually held joint fellows workshop from August 31st, 2020 to September 3rd, 2020. Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that has affected all parts of the world, the joint workshop was originally scheduled to be held in Kampala, Uganda in collaboration with Makerere University. 18 APN Individual Research fellows and 35 Next Gen Proposal Development, Dissertation Research, and Dissertation Completion fellows participated in the workshop, whose activities included lectures, working group sessions, and one-on-one mentoring sessions

International Peace Research Association (IPRA) 28th Biennial Conference, Nairobi

African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (NextGen) fellows were part of the delegates of the 28th Biennial IPRA conference, that was held in Nairobi Kenya, from January 10-15, 2021. IPRA’s purpose is to advance research into the conditions of peace and the causes of war and other forms of violence. The theme of this years’ conference was on ‘Peace-Technology: Positioning the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Emerging Technologies in Fostering Global Peace.’ The program director of the Social Science Research Council’s APN and Next Gen programs, Cyril Obi gave a welcome address to delegates during the

Africa Great Lakes Region (2030) Sustaining Peace

The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), Search for Common Ground and the Faculty of Law, University of Goma, held a virtual conference on “Africa Great Lakes (2030) Sustaining Peace, on March 23-24, 2021. The conference was held over two days and organized around two themes. On the first day presentations and discussions were focused on “Consolidating and Sustaining Peace,” while presentations and discussions on the second day focused on, “Building Economies of Peace and Prosperity.” The opening session on the first day of the conference featured brief welcome remarks by Cyril Obi, Program Director of the SSRC’s African Peacebuilding Network

Virtual Book Launch of Researching Peacebuilding in Africa: Reflections on Fieldwork, Theory and Context

The virtual book launch commenced with the introduction of the editors of the book, Ismail Rashid and Amy Niang, and the book launcher, Nomfundo Walaza, by Cyril Obi, the program director of the SSRC’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) programs. This was followed by the presentation of the overview of the book by the editors and some chapter contributors. The editors explained that the book was the product of dialogues that facilitators/mentors had with each other as well as APN fellows during training workshops held annually since 2013, on the various dimensions

Next Generation African Peacebuilding: New Voices, Perspectives, and Approaches

Next generation African peacebuilding: new voices, perspectives and approaches (WP1676) Wilton Park, in collaboration with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and the African Leadership Centre (ALC), organized and hosted a conference on “Next generation African peacebuilding: new voices, new networks and new strategies” in Steyning, England, from April 10-12, 2019. The three-day conference was supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY). This conference is the fifth in an annual series on peacebuilding in Africa that started in 2015. Previous events assessed the changing dynamics of conflict and other evolving challenges, the ways in which African peacebuilding actors have

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