Entebbe, Uganda
November 7-9, 2017
The Africa Institute for Peace and Justice Studies Program Development in the Catholic Social Tradition was hosted by Uganda Martyrs University, and co-sponsored by the Association of Catholic Universities and Higher Institutes of Africa and Madagascar (ACUHIAM), the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa's Centre for Social Justice and Ethics, CPN, the University of Notre Dame's Kroc institute for International Peace Studies, Catholic Relief Services, the International Federation of Catholic Universities, the Institut für Theologie und Frieden, Misereor, Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, and the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. It included 64 people from 16 countries, including Europe, North America and nations across Africa, representing 18 institutions engaged in academic programming for peace and justice studies.
The Institute was a concrete follow up to the Proposal for Research in Education for Peace, which was approved in Johannesburg in 2014 by the General Assembly of ACUHIAM, and which was aimed at strengthening peacebuilding capacity in Africa and institutionalizing education, training, and research in peace studies. And this ACUHIAM proposal followed from a strategic plan for peacebuilding and reconciliation developed at the Conference of the Catholic Episcopate of the Great Lakes Region for Peace and Reconciliation, held in Burundi in 2010 with support from CPN.
In service to these resolutions, the Institute had four main goals:
- to review and strengthen existing peace studies programs by sharing best practices and exploring the relationship between peace studies and Catholic social teaching;
- to contribute to mainstreaming peace studies within universities and integrating peace studies concepts across the curriculum;
- to identify areas in which university and institute programs might collaborate; and
- to explore how these academic programs can learn from and contribute to the peace and justice work of the wider Catholic community in Africa.
The Institute resulted in the formation of an Africa Peace Studies Working Group, which will work under the umbrella of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. This Working Group will provide a leadership structure to ensure follow up to the Institute. The Working Group will spearhead networking and collaboration initiatives, such as faculty exchanges and joint research projects, and coordinate efforts to share best practices and strategies for curriculum development, student recruitment, enhancing engagement with the wider Catholic Church and governmental bodies, and other common concerns.
ACUHIAM 2014 Plan • Institute Program-English • Institute Program-French • Participant List-English • Participant List-French • Way Forward Action Plan
Archbishop John Baptist Odama, Gulu Diocese, Chaiperson of the Uganda Episcopal Conference
Institute Remarks
Elias Omondi Opongo, S.J., Hekima Institute for Peace Studies and International Relations, Hekima College
Institute Background and the African Context and Opportunities and Challenges for a Peacebuilding Response by Universities and CSOs
David Hollenbach, S.J., Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, Georgetown University
Catholic Social Teaching and Peace: Nonviolence, Justice, and Reconciliation (video)
Catholic Social Teaching and Peace: Nonviolence, Justice, and Reconciliation (handout)
Genevieve Mwayuli, Catholic University of Eastern Africa
Networking and Collaboration between Universities (paper)
Networking and Collaboration between Universities (presentation)
Luc Pasquier, International Federation of Catholic Universities
Global Networking and Collaboration between Universities
Sr. Elizabeth Nduku, Catholic University of Eastern Africa
University Collaboration with the Church: Experiences from the AMECEA Region
George A. Lopez, University of Notre Dame
Approaches and Strategies for Building Peace and Justice Studies Programs
Richard A. Kakeeto, Catholic University of Eastern Africa
CUEA Programs
Kifle Wansamo, S.J., Hekima Institute for Peace Studies and International Relations, Hekima College
HIPSIR Lessons Learned
HIPSIR Lessons Learned (presentation)
Lieven Engbanda Lingonge, Cardinal Martino Panafrican Institute, Catholic University of Congo
Martino Institute Lessons Learned (in French)
Gaston Ogui Cossi, Catholic University of West Africa/University Unit of Abidjan
UCAO/UAA Lessons Learned