UPDATE: The deadline to apply has been extended until January 12, 2019.

Launched in 2012, the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) supports independent African research on conflict-affected countries and regions of the African continent, as well as the integration of evidence-based knowledge into scholarly discourses, and the practices of regional and global policy communities.

In order to advance African debates on peacebuilding and promote African perspectives, the APN offers competitive research grants annually and is currently accepting grant proposals for the 2019 cycle.

Grant Descriptions

1. Individual Research Grants: Supports up to six months of innovative field-based research in order to produce knowledge that can impact policies and practical actions on peacebuilding initiatives in Africa (Maximum support: $15,000).

A core component of the APN, the Individual Research Grant program is a vehicle for enhancing the quality and visibility of independent African peacebuilding research both regionally and globally, while making peacebuilding knowledge accessible to key policymakers and research centers of excellence in Africa and around the world. Grant recipients produce research-based knowledge that is relevant to and has a significant impact on, peacebuilding scholarship, policy, and practice on the continent. For its part, the APN works toward inserting the evidence-based knowledge that grant recipients produce into regional and global debates and policies focusing on peacebuilding.

The individual research grants support research in topics such as:

  • Root causes of, and emerging trajectories of violent conflict;
  • Resilience, conflict prevention, and transformation;
  • State and non-state armed actors, transnational crime, extremism, displacement, and migration;
  • Post-conflict elections, democratization, governance and economic reconstruction;
  • Statebuilding, including state-society relations and state reconstruction;
  • Transitional justice, reconciliation, and peace;
  • The economic and financial dimensions of conflict, peacekeeping, and peace support operations;
  • Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and peacebuilding;
  • UN-AU-REC Partnerships and Peace Support Operations;
  • Digital media, technology, and peace;
  • Cultures and art(s) of peace;
  • Gender, youth, and peacebuilding;
  • Water, conflict, and peace;
  • Health, post-conflict development, peace, and security; and
  • Prevention of mass atrocities.

2. Book Manuscript Completion Grants: Supports APN alumni during the completion of a book manuscript based on their prior APN-supported research (Maximum support: $10,000).

The APN invites letters of interest from alumni and current grantees, to transform their APN projects or related peacebuilding research into publishable book manuscripts. Applicants are expected to have completed their APN projects by the time of application and show sufficient evidence that work on ongoing book manuscripts—either based on their former APN award or previous peacebuilding-related research—can be completed and submitted to a publisher within four to six months.

Eligibility

These awards are open to scholars and practitioners from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including those from multidisciplinary backgrounds. However, viable proposals should demonstrate a solid grasp of social science methods, tools, and literature, and be focused on an issue related to African peacebuilding.

Individuals who choose to apply for these programs must be based in African universities, regional organizations, government agencies or nongovernmental, media, or civil society organizations on the continent.

Additional information 

For more information and to access the application, visit our website. Detailed application instructions, eligibility restrictions, and terms of awards can be found by selecting the relevant grant programs.

The application deadline for all APN grants is January 12, 2019. In order to be considered, your application must be completed online, via our portal, and in SUBMITTED status no later than 11:59 pm (EST) on this date. References and language evaluations must also be submitted online by this deadline.

Contact Info: Questions should be directed to the APN team at apn@ssrc.org, or by calling (+1) 718-517-3669