UPEACE Africa Programme organizes a Consultative Meeting and an Advisory Board Meeting.












The Africa programme organized from 26 to 29 March 2007 a consultative meeting of partners from universities, research institutions, regional economic communities and civil society organisations from across Africa. From its inception, the Africa programme was built on a “Consultative Approach”, grounding its undertakings on needs and actions agreed upon with partners. In line with this spirit of working together, UPEACE convened this consultative meeting to assess the programme’s activities for the initial five years (2002-2007) and to map out with partners the strategies for UPEACE future actions in Africa for the next five years.

The consultative meeting had three major objectives:

  • Assess the action of the Programme over the initial planning phase and identify the strengths and weaknesses encountered during that phase.

  • Formulate a draft plan of action and programme priorities for the next five-year phase

  • Enhance the active contribution and involvement of the partners in the network

The meeting saw the participation of Vice chancellors/Rectors, Institutions Directors and/or representatives from 25 Universities, 13 civil society organizations, four research institutions, three regional economic communities and the African union.

The outcomes of the consultative meeting were submitted to the first meeting of the Africa Advisory Board which was held a few days later on 3 April 2007.

The Advisory Board was established with a composition of representatives of the academic community and eminent persons in the field of peace and security in Africa with the main purpose to help ensure the coherence, relevance and effectiveness of the Africa programme, and its proper linkage, to African institutions and programmes. The members of the Advisory Board are: Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, Prof. Edward S. Ayensu,Dr Tekeda Alemu, Ms. Bineta Diop and Amb. Mohamed Sahnoun.

Both meetings saw the participation of UPEACE Acting Rector, Mr Georges Tsaï who took also the opportunity to hold discussions with a number of high ranking officials to sensitize more institutions    about UPEACE, enhace its visibility and explore avenues for resource mobilization. These include the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, the Deputy Chairman of the African Union Commission, the United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and UNDP Resident Representative and Coordinator of the UN system in Ethiopia.


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New Dual Campus Master in International Peace Studies Inaugurated

The University for Peace, in partnership with Ateneo de Manila University, launched its new Dual Campus Master of Arts in International Peace Studies, on Tuesday, April 10, 2007, in Manila, the Philippines. The programme, which is funded by The Nippon Foundation, combines an internationally recognized peace studies curriculum with a rigorous, content-based language training module.  It has been specifically designed for professionals from Asia who want to work on issues related to conflict management, conflict transformation and peacebuilding in the region.

The opening ceremony was held in Escaller Hall at Ateneo de Manila University with the participation of the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Ms. Erlinda Basilio, the Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, the Vice President of Ateneo de Manila, Ms. Assunta Cuyengken, the Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Fr. Jose Cruz, and the Acting Rector of the University for Peace, Mr. Georges Tsaï.  A wide range of representatives of non-governmental and international organizations, academic institutions, diplomats, and governmental institutions and organizations working in the Philippines attended the ceremony.

UPEACE students, among them 17 female and 13 male, coming from eleven different countries and with different professional and cultural backgrounds, received full scholarship certificates granted by Mr. Sasakawa from the Nippon Foundation in order to pursue their studies over the course of the nineteen month academic programme. Students are currently undertaking their language training module at Ateneo de Manila until the second week of August and will join their classmates in the traditional International Peace Studies programme at the end of the month in Costa Rica at UPEACE headquarters. Following the foundational courses at UPEACE, students will return to Manila at the end of February to take academic courses with a regional focus on Asia and do a four-month internship with an international or non-governmental organization in the Philippines.

Here, at headquarters, we would like to give a big welcome to our new students and look forward to having them in San José soon.

WELCOME Dual Campus MA students in International Peace Studies, class 2007-2008!!!!!

For more information on this programme, please visit http://www.upeace.org/academic/masters/SIPS.cfm, or click here

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UPEACE honours former Rector Martin Lees

On Friday, 13 April 2007 the UPEACE headquarters community gathered to say good-bye to Martin Lees, UPEACE Rector from 2001 through 2005.  Mr. Lees and his wife Christina will be moving to Europe permanently at the end of the month and the UPEACE staff and students took this opportunity to thank him for his important contribution to the development of the University.  

Dr. Amr Abdalla, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, opened the event in the Council Room and said a few words of gratitude to Mr. Lees, whom superb vision and capacity for action led the revitalization effort of UPEACE, and assured success against considerable odds.

As a token of appreciation for his remarkable efforts, Dr. Abdalla, on behalf of the UPEACE community, presented Mr. Lees with a very special present: a plaque dedicating the UPEACE library as “The Martin Lees Library”.  The plaque will be posted at the entrance to the library.

Martin Lees made a presentation to the community on: UPEACE Five Years Ago, Today and Five Years from Now. After the presentation, staff and students had the opportunity to interact with Mr. Lees and asked questions regarding the future of the University.

UPEACE wishes Mr. and Mrs. Lees all success in all their future endeavours.

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Short course announcement: Nonprofit Leadership - Maximising Impact

The working environment in the nonprofit sector is changing at a rapid rate due to changes in society, information flows, new technologies, growing partnership options, and more. As a result, leading and managing a nonprofit organization in this dynamic climate presents new opportunities as well as challenges.
This field-based course, offered by the UPEACE Centre for Executive and Professional Education, will focus on the specific challenges of nonprofit management, innovative fundraising approaches, and developing skills for effective nonprofit leadership.

Dates: The course is offered from June 4-9, 2007, and will cover the following 5 topic areas:

• Clarifying strategy and structure
• Measuring impact and evaluating success
• Leveraging the private sector
• Engaging in revenue-generating activities
• Skills for Effective Nonprofit Leadership
(cross-cultural communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution)

Course Cost: $1,250. This tuition fee includes all course materials, accommodation with a local host family, and three meals/day. Participants will be awarded a certificate from the UN-affiliated University for Peace upon completion of the course.
Please see  www.centre.upeace.org for more information and enrollment procedures or contact the Centre Director, Mohit Mukherjee at mohit@upeace.org with any questions you may have. If you experience e-mail problems, re-send to: upeacemohit@gmail.com.

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Message from Julia Marton-Lefèvre, former Rector of UPEACE

I spent a few days in Washington at meetings in April, and UPEACE, which is always in my heart, came into my life on a number of occasions. Rushing to a World Bank meeting one morning I bumped into Jessica Morey (NRSD student, 2006) who now has a great job there working on energy issues. At a meeting of environmental leaders organized by Newsweek at Georgetown University, a Newsweek official, the sister of Elizabeth Hogan (NRSD 2007), found me and told me how UPEACE had been such a great experience for Elizabeth. At an IUCN meeting on Marine Protected areas, several participants spoke warmly of contacts with Rolain Borel and his team at UPEACE. And finally, as my visit to Washington happened to coincide with a meeting of the UPEACE US board, I joined them for dinner, and am delighted to see the continued support and enthusiasm for UPEACE from influential friends in the US.

The message of UPEACE is steadily and surely reaching all corners of the world!

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Visiting professors

Profesor Mike Brklacich
ESP 6120 Human Vulnerability and Climate Change

Mike Brklacich is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.  His research focuses on human dimensions of global environmental change, human security and global environmental change, vulnerability and adaptability of food systems to global change and food security.  He is currently a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change, Fourth Assessment Working Group II (www.ipcc.ch/index.html) and Chair of the Inter-American Institute for Global Environmental Change’s Scientific Advisory Committee (www.iai.int).  He is also a past (2001-05) Director of the Global Environmental Change and Human Security Project (www.gechs.org) and past (2001-2006) Vice-Chair of the Global Environmental Change and Food Systems Project (www.gecafs.org).

Thabet ElBardicy
MPS 6012 Covering the Middle East
(Teaching the third part of the course)

Thabet ElBardicy is an Egyptian American journalist. Born in Egypt in 1953, ElBardicy studied in Egypt and the United States with a Bachelor in Science and Mathematics from Cairo University and a Master in Telecommunications from George Mason University. In 1980 he worked for the official Egyptian Radio then Egyptian TV in 1982 as an Anchor. In 1985 he Joined the Voice of America in Washington,DC as an International Radio Broadcaster and covered live the 2nd Gulf War. In 1993 to 1996 He was the Managing Director of ANA TV news, a local Arab TV in the Washington DC area with Cable reach to several Arab American Communities in Los Angeles, Detroit, New York and other areas in North America. In 1996 he joined the first Arabic Satellite Channel, Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) with headquarters in London as Washington Correspondent.

Fred L. Wehling, Ph.D
IPS 6070 Weapons of Mass Destruction and Small Arms: Disarmament, Nonproliferation, and Arms Control (Teaching the third part of the course)

Fred L. Wehling, Ph.D., a UPEACE Senior Fellow, is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of International Policy Studies (GSIPS) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Research Director of the Monterey Terrorism Research and Education Program (MonTREP). Prof. Wehling received his A.B. in International Relations, Political Science, and Russian from the University of Southern California in 1985, an M.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1987, a Ph.D. in Political Science, from UCLA in 1992, and a Masters of Instructional Science and Technology from California State University Monterey Bay in 2006. In addition to teaching, he manages the MonTREP research program, develops online courses and instructional materials, and conducts research in nuclear material security. Prof. Wehling is co-author of The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism (Routledge, 2005) and World Politics in a New Era, 3rd ed. (Wadsworth, 2003) and author of various articles and reports on nuclear non-proliferation and the prevention of and response to terrorist incidents involving nuclear and radiological materials.

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News from our alumni

Suzanne Hunt
MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
Class of 2004

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

On 31 March  I will be setting out on a month-long bioenergy adventure better known as the Greaseball Challenge 2007.  The Greaseball Challenge is a charity biofuel car rally from the US to Central America. The purposes of the trip are to raise awareness about bioenergy and sustainably produced alternatives to fossil fuels, and also to visit bioenergy projects, identify good projects and connect them with technical and financial support. Teams must drive a vehicle purchased on a shoestring budget and the vehicle must run on a renewable fuel.  A camera crew will be capturing it all on film and will be producing a documentary film of the trip.

I will be traveling from Washington DC, USA to San Jose, Costa Rica, via Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua in a 1981 VW Rabbit pickup, also known as Grease Lightning that can run on biodiesel or straight vegetable oil (or of course regular diesel if we absolutely can’t get our hands on biofuels).  Jean-Philippe Denruyter, Global Bioenergy Coordinator for World Wildlife Fund, will be my co-pilot and partner in crime. 

To learn more about the bioenergy projects we will be visiting, read our “Notes from the Road” blog on the Bioenergy Wiki page http://www.bioenergywiki.net/index.php/Notes_From_the_Road

To hear about our travels, adventures and antics on the Greaseball website (http://www.greaseballchallenge.com).

Wish us luck!

Suzanne

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