The African Peacebuilding Network has awarded 18 Individual Research Fellowships and 1 Collaborative Working Group Fellowship to scholars who will conduct field-based research to enrich knowledge and practice in the field of peacebuilding in Africa.

The Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program has awarded 42 fellowships across its 3 competitions, supporting students and early-career faculty with their doctoral dissertation projects.

Introducing SSRC’s African Peacebuilding Network (APN) 2022 Fellows:

The African Peacebuilding Network (APN) of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is pleased to announce the 2022 recipients of its Individual Research Fellowship and Collaborative Working Group Fellowship competitions.

The program awards these fellowships to African researchers based in African universities, research institutes, and other policy-related and civil society institutions. Since 2013, the APN has awarded 207 research grants and fellowships.

The APN supports independent African research on conflict-affected countries and neighboring regions of the continent, as well as the integration of African knowledge into global policy communities. APN fellowships facilitate the production of high-quality African peacebuilding research and promote its visibility among policy practitioners and scholars around the world, including Africa, with the aim of influencing academic discourse and shaping policy.

APN Individual Research Fellowship

The Individual Research Fellowship (IRF) supports six months of field-based research, through which recipients produce research-based knowledge that is relevant to and has a significant impact on peacebuilding scholarship, policy, and practice on the continent.

The eighteen recipients of the 2022 Individual Research Fellowship (IRF) listed below are pursuing a diverse range of topics related to conflict and peacebuilding in Africa, such as maritime border disputes, conflicts between farmers and herders, conflict resolution and transformation, gender, religion and peace, political violence, peacebuilding strategies, resource conflicts, and countering violent extremism. The 2022 Individual Research Fellowship cohort features eighteen individuals from Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Eritrea.

Here is the list of the African Peacebuilding Network 2022 Individual Research Fellowship Awardees:

  • Justin Agheyisi, Artisanal Refineries and Resource Conflict in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria, University of Benin.
  • Joyce Agofure, The Peacebuilding Role of Films, Fictional Works and Social Media in the Resolutions of Natural Resource Conflicts in the North West and Niger Delta Regions of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello University.
  • Haydée Bangerezako, From resistance to peace building: Prophetesses in colonial and postcolonial Senegal, University of Cheikh Anta Diop.       
  • Felix Bigabo, The acceptance in post-genocide Rwanda: Understanding the action-based reconciliation model between the former genocide prisoners and genocide survivors, Prison Fellowship Rwanda.
  • Ketema Debela, Intergovernmental Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in the Federal System of Ethiopia: The Case of Oromia and Somali Regional States, Addis Ababa University.
  • Solomon Gebrezgabher, Conflict within Conflicts: A Case Study of Farmers – Pastoralists Conflict in Eritrea, College of Business and Social Sciences (CBSS Eritrea).
  • Tshepo Gwatiwa, Violent Extremist Organizations’ Use of the Open and Dark Web: Case Study of Mozambique, University of the Witwatersrand.
  • Danson Kahyana, Peacebuilding through Constructive Storytelling among Students in Selected Secondary Schools in Bibibidi Refugee Settlement, Yumbe District, Uganda, Makerere University.
  • Alex Kamwaria, Maritime Border Disputes and the Rise of Joint Development Agreement Model in Africa: Lessons and Implications for the Kenya and Somalia Dispute, Machakos University.
  • Cleophas Karooma, Reluctant to Return: An analysis of ‘Go and See’, ‘Come and Tell’ Visits in the Repatriation Decision-making Process of the Rwandan Refugees in Nakivale refugee settlement, Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
  • Lilian N.S. Kong’ani, Assessing the strides made in inclusion of women in peacebuilding Initiatives: Evidences from the Pastoral Communities in West Pokot County, Kenya, University of Nairobi.
  • Anselmo Matusse, Malangatana’s Public Art and Peacebuilding in Mozambique, Bloco 4 Foundation.
  • Ruth Murambadoro, Women’s Politics in Zimbabwe: Aftermath of the 2013 Constitution, University of the Witwatersrand.
  • Florence Ncube, ’In exile but not at peace’: Rwandan army deserters in South Africa, University of the Western Cape.
  • Guillaume Ndayikengurutse, The Contribution of Civil Society Organizations in Peacebuilding in Post-2015 Burundi, University of Burundi.
  • Obiageli Nnamocha, The Church and Peacebuilding in Nigeria: A Study of the Justice, Development and Peace Commission of the Owerri and Ahiara Dioceses, Imo State University.
  • Hippolyt Akow Pul, Community Response Against Violent Extremism and for Peace (CRAVE4Peace) Research, Institute for Peace and Development.
  • Ophelia Soliku, Gender dimensions of protected area conflicts and peacebuilding strategies: pathways to improve park-people relations and sustainable peaceful coexistence in northern Ghana, Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Development Studies.

Collaborative Working Group Research Fellowship

The APN Collaborative Working Group (CWG) Research Fellowship supports the production of collaborative research-based knowledge and publications that are relevant to—and have a significant impact on—peacebuilding scholarship, policy, and practice on the continent. For its part, the APN will work toward inserting the evidence-based knowledge that this collaborative research working group produces into regional and global debates and policies on peacebuilding.

One APN Collaborative Working Group (CWG) Research Fellowship will be supported by a maximum award of $60,000 for a period of eighteen months. Members of the working group are expected to collaborate and carry out the proposed research project together, and they are therefore expected to meet several times over the project period. Funding should be used to support new field research, the review of relevant literature, and the production of various outputs, such as policy briefs, reports, best-practice models, and academic publications. This year’s working group features academics and scholars from institutions in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda. The title of their project is Let’s do it together: Rethinking Gender in the Mediation and Resolution of Natural Resources Conflicts in a Changing Climate in East Africa.

The members of this year’s Collaborative Working Group Research Fellowship are:

  • Gilbert Ong’isa Ouma (Lead Investigator), Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Nairobi.
  • Abiyot Legesse, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Land Resource Management, Dilla University, Ethiopia.
  • Jacinta Maweu, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Biryaho Francis, Lecturer/Deputy Director, Catholic University of South Sudan, Yambio Campus.
  • Rosemary Nakijoba, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, Ndejje University, Uganda.
  • Silas Odongo, Senior Lecturer, School of Journalism/Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Warm congratulations to this year’s African Peacebuilding Network Fellowship Award recipients. The APN looks forward to working with you and seeing the results of your promising research.

For more information on APN fellowships, please write to: apn@ssrc.org or visit our pages on Individual Research Fellowships and Working Group Research Fellowships.

Introducing SSRC’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa’s 2022-2023 Fellows

The Social Science Research Council’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program is pleased to announce the 42 fellows receiving the Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship, the Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship, and the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship.

The Next Gen program supports tertiary education in Africa by awarding a sequence of 3 fellowship opportunities for promising PhD students to do research and make steady progress toward completing their doctoral degrees.

The 42 fellows listed below are working on a range of topics relating to peace, security, development, politics and governance, gender and youth, land and climate change, and media and cultural studies.

Here is the complete list of Next Generation Social Science in Africa 2022-2023 fellows, categorized by award:

Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship

Doctoral dissertation proposal fellowships support PhD students working on developing a doctoral dissertation research proposal as well as students who recently completed a master’s degree and seek to enroll in a PhD program. The fellowships support short-term research costs of up to US$3,000 to develop a doctoral dissertation proposal.

This year’s Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellows are:

  • Freweini Tekle Kidane, “Gender Issues in Nation-Building Projects: The Case of Eritrea”
  • Charles Felix Komba, “Understanding Non-State Interventions in Preventing Violent Extremism in Tanzania: The Role of NGOs”
  • Bambo Miti, “Identifying Practices of Reconciliation Embedded in Faith Traditions: A Critical Analysis of African Pentecostalism”
  • Jane Flora Nguye Mutere, “The Future of the Nairobi Railway Museum: Education and Decolonization in the Digital Age”
  • Caleb Maikuma Wafula, “Assessment of Environmental Peace Building for Climate Change and Conflict Management in Kenya’s Tana River County”
  • Erin Vicky Hazan, “En(Gendering) Imprisonment: Transvaal, 1920s-1980s”
  • Mosangoaneng Mangaka Esther Leteane, “The State v Crimes of Apartheid: Inquests, Amnesty, and the Constitutional Right to a Fair Trial”
  • Mahat Issack Hassan, “Contemporary Construction of Somali Imaginaries in Selected Texts and its Implication on Kenya’s Nationhood”
  • Oluwaseun Adisa Kugbayi, “Non-Lethal Impact of Displacement and Social Support Strategies for the Reintegration of Internally Displaced Persons in North-Eastern Nigeria”
  • Japhet Elisante Ringo, “Effectiveness of Early Warning Systems in Mitigation of Flood Effects in Kilosa, Morogoro”
  • Gabriel Gabriel Deng, “Relationship Between the Executive and the Legislature and Its Impact on Public Policy in South Sudan, 2005-2016”

Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation research fellowship supports 6-12 months of dissertation research costs of up to US$15,000 on a topic related to peace, security, and development.

This year’s Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellows are:

  • Asher Simiso Gamedze, “Ensemble study and struggle: A history of the Yu Chi Chan Club and the National Liberation Front”
  • David Muinga, “Yet Another Silk Road? Situating Uganda in China-Africa Development Relations”
  • Salahadin Ali Mohammed, “Genealogy of the ‘Customary’ in Central Highlands of Eritrea: Historical Perspectives on Personal Status, Property Relations and the Local State”
  • Thomas Kasonde Mukonde, “Black Theatre and the End of Apartheid, 1977 – 2000”
  • Grace Njoki Maina, “A Historical Analysis of Women in Traditional Governance Institutions: The Agikuyu ‘Ndundu Cia Aaka’, 1925-2010”
  • Angelique Candice Thomas, “Reimagining sexual and reproductive health in an exploratory study with young women living with HIV and their partners in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa”
  • Adventino Banjwa, “Contesting the Postcolonial Political Order: A Critical Historical and Political Study on the Federalist Movement in Uganda”
  • Suzana Helizena Da Rosa De Sousa, “Angola Avante! Making and contesting political narratives of the nation through art and visual culture”
  • Teverayi Muguti, “A History of Border Security Policy in Zimbabwe: The Case of the Zimbabwe – Zambia Border, c. 1963 to 2017”
  • Anna-Maria Kok, “Dark Networks: A South African Cash-in-Transit Crime Case Study”
  • Nontando Ndhlovu, “Colonial gender structures as a contributing factor in influencing the political leadership landscape in Zimbabwe. An intersectional feminist critique”
  • Yikwab Peter Yikwabs, “Putting Victims First’: Unpacking the Dynamics of Victimization Experiences in the Farmer-Herder Conflict of North-Central Nigeria”
  • Timothy Chibuike Anyanwu, “Beyond Mere Leisure: Football and Peace in Igboland, 1904-1976”
  • Benezet Mugisha Rwelengera, “Framing Pastoralism – Forestry Relations in Tanzania: Knowledge, Power and Identity”

Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation completion fellowship supports a one-year leave from teaching and administrative responsibilities through a stipend up to US$10,000 to permit the completion of a dissertation that advances research on peace, security, and development topics.

This year’s Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellows are:

  • Mercy Mupavayenda, “DREAMS: The making and unmaking of girls and girlhood in Gauteng, South Africa in an era of private/public partnerships in international development”
  • Yosef Sintayehu Jemberie, “The Making of State of Emergency: A Historical Critique of Modern Political Power in Ethiopia”
  • Susan Wangui Kungu, “Portrayal of Gender Based Violence in Selected Locally Produced Soap Operas in Kenya”
  • Edmond Madhuha, “The persistent health burden: understanding black South African working-class men’s experiences of living with tuberculosis”
  • Anitah Atwijuka, “Culture and Decentralised Power: Discerning Nationalism in Contemporary Uganda”
  • Nigel Mxolisi Landa, “Gender discourses among Zimbabwean women who live in Johannesburg, South Africa”
  • Lydia Amoah, “Queen Mothers and Conflict Resolution among the Akan of Ghana. A Study of the Asantehemaa’s Court in Kumasi”
  • Thandokazi Maseti, “Discourses that Shape Black Women’s Academic Development in South African Universities”
  • Benson Waiganjo Kanyingi, “At the Periphery in Mau Mau Discourse: A Case of The Mbeere of Embu County, Kenya, 1952-2014”
  • David Maina Muthegethi, “Rethinking Materiality on Social Identities: Archaeological Perspective of Thimlich Ohinga and Gedi Ruins, Kenya from 1000 -1900CE”
  • Kafui Otis Tsekpo, “The Role of Social Policy and Leadership in Post-Conflict Peace-building: The case study of Rwanda and Liberia”
  • Bungaya Dughangw Mayo, “A History of the Textile Industry in the Present Day Tanzania, 1957-2015”
  • Oluwatosin Samuel Orimolade, “People and State: A Genealogy of the Political Constitution of the Nigerian State”
  • Fatuma Rahama Hassan, “Decentralised Land Reforms and Pastoralists Land Access”
  • Ridwan Abiola Kolawole, “Exploratory Analysis of Identity Construction in Nigerian Media Framing of Farmer-Herder Conflict”
  • Lina Elias Salomao, “Gender Relations and School Dropout in Mozambique: The Trajectories of Girls in Maputo Province and Maputo City”
  • Graham Amakanji Oluteyo, “Calibrating Homegrown Extremism over Intractable Communal Land Use Conflicts in Mt. Elgon Constituency of Western Kenya”

Warm congratulations to this year’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa fellows. Next Gen looks forward to working with you and seeing the results of your promising research.

If you are interested in applying for a fellowship from Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa,  you can learn more about our different fellowships here.