The goal of the programme is for seventeen partner universities in South Asia, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, to start high quality MA programmes in fields related to peace and conflict studies.

The MA programmes will be developed by the partner institutions. UPEACE will collaborate closely with each partner and contribute with academic capacity building in the form of Master Curriculum Development Workshops, Scholarships and Co-Teaching.The project builds upon UPEACE's extensive collaborative activities in the different regions over the past few years and its experience in academic programme development in the field of peace and conflict studies.

Peace and Conflict Studies as a distinct academic discipline has been developing in academic institutions since the early 1960's. Ever since, many institutions in Northern countries have opened academic programmes in Peace and Conflict Studies. This as a result of the need to understand violence better, as well as to address conflict situations both at the national and international level. Despite the fact that this need has been felt in the South also, only a few institutions in the South have developed academic programmes in this discipline.

Northern institutions have been unable to bridge this gap towards Southern countries experiencing conflict or engaged in peacebuilding stages. Bringing students from developing countries to receive formal academic training in Northern countries is limited in its reach, even though this provides an opportunity for some students to be fully trained through a long-standing academic programme. Moreover, Peace and Conflict curricula are found to be centred on a Northern perspective with regards to what Peace and Conflict curricula are meant to achieve, and as a result those curricula do not match the specific needs of developing countries.

Universities in the South are very ambitious in their efforts to fill this gap. By developing their own curriculum they can meet the needs of their region and reach a much wider and more diverse audience. This programme of the University for Peace is geared towards facilitating partner universities in the South in this development.

Dr. Victoria Fontan, Project Leader and Regional Leader for the Middle East
PhD Candidate in Education, Universidad De La Salle, Costa Rica. PhD, MA, Peace and Development Studies, University of Limerick, Republic of Ireland. BA in Politics, University of Sussex, UK. She is now Director for Academic Development, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies. Her research background is eclectic, but centered on key issues in the development of terrorism and political violence in post-conflict areas, more specifically on humiliation and social polarizations. She conducted field research in Lebanon, the Spanish Basque country, and more recently post-Saddam Iraq.

Thomas Klompmaker, MSc, MA, Project Coordinator
MSc in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, MA in International Peace Studies, University for Peace, Costa Rica. Thomas Klompmaker was born and raised in The Hague, The Netherlands. He has worked for the Dutch government (Ministry of Justice) as a free market policy adviser and is currently employed by the University for Peace in Costa Rica as project co-coordinator. He is specialized in project management.

Dr. Jean-Bosco Butera, Regional Leader for the Horn of Africa
Dr Butera is the Director of the Africa Programme of the University for Peace, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Prior to joining the University in April 2005, he was Vice-Rector (Deputy Vice Chancellor) for Academic Affairs (1995-2003) and taught at the National University of Rwanda (NUR). He also held senior positions in Rwanda Public service. He holds a PhD in Veterinary Parasitology and a Certificate in Human Rights and Development.