The APN offers unique opportunities to young African peace researchers who feel excluded by Global North hegemonies and lack access to funds with which to conduct research on their terms and grow their agency and confidence in Afrocentric knowledge production processes.
Without institutionalizing a new field of study, it is fair to say that the APN has nonetheless been gradually shifting the center of gravity of peacebuilding research in Africa.
The collective nature of the workshops builds upon the ability and capacity of grantees to develop and sustain networks for their future work and career growth. This can be seen from my trajectory as a three-time grantee over the years.
In terms of developing a deep sense of conviviality and commitment to knowledge production, networking, and policy engagement, the APN marked an unforgettable milestone in my academic trajectory.
APN transformed my scholarship. It empowers fellows to intellectually push themselves, and produce innovative knowledge that challenges established wisdom.
If I have to pick one lesson from the APN Training Workshops that I attended as part of the APN grant I received in 2017, it is Prof. Thomas Tieku’s insistence on the absolute necessity of making our scholarly research and works intentionally African.
