University for Peace Africa Programme and Institute for Environmental Security
Affiliation or Individual: Marcel Leroy
City, Country: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Region of Work: 116
Objective / Mission Statement:
- The mission of the University for Peace Africa Programme is to stimulate cooperation and to help lessen obstacles and threats to peace and development. Its scope is the entire continent of Africa, complementing and amplifying the work of the main UPEACE campus in Costa Rica.
- The Institute for Environmental Security aims at advancing security by supporting the regenerative capacity of ecosystems. Its research is multidisciplinary and is designed to support policy makers with safeguarding conditions for peace and sustainable development as well as to tackle environmental security risks as they arise.
Area of work: 128, 124
Key activities relevant to PDD:
- The UPEACE Africa Programme is active in education and offers a joint MA programme in peace and conflict studies with Addis Ababa University, and also coordinates PhD studies in peace and security with a consortium of a dozen African universities. In house research has centred on the role of environment and natural resources in African conflicts as well as on the impact of climate change, particularly as it affects pastoralists.
- The Institute for Environmental Security (IES) carries out the following ongoing projects in accordance with its objectives:
- IES is a member of the consortium which organises the annual Planetary Security Conference on behalf of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- implementation of the European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE) regarding illegal dumping of toxic waste
- organising Roundtables on Climate and Security with diplomatic missions and international bodies in The Hague and Brussels
- IES initiated and manages the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change (GMACCC) with participation from developed and less developed countries
- IES implements the COBRA Project on the Guyana Shield (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana) using remote sensing to assess environmental changes and facilitate community owned solutions for managing ecosystem services
- IES carries out assessments on Environmental Security for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
- in collaboration with the Ethiopian Civil Service University, IES is setting up a Master’s Programme in Migration and Development, as well as in-house research in this field.
Website: http://www.africa-upeace.org/
