Spotlight: Partnerships for greater impact in Africa

In Addis Ababa, the ISS and the Institute for Peace and Security Studies are collaborating to improve security policy and practice.

Published on 14 July 2016 in Impact

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is partnering with the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to develop African solutions to the continent’s most pressing peace and security challenges.

‘This partnership allows our organisations to implement a wide range of projects and activities with an emphasis on training, policy research and outreach. By pooling our resources and expertise we can make a bigger difference’, says Kidane Kiros, Director of IPSS at Addis Ababa University.

Building on the strengths of the two organisations, the memorandum of agreement between the ISS and IPSS outlines areas of cooperation over the next three years starting in June 2016. These include training on peace and security, joint research and staff exchanges. The two organisations also agreed to jointly engage with the African Union (AU) where appropriate.

The ISS and IPSS are two leading organisations working with the AU

After 20 years of working together, the ISS and the AU formalised their relationship in November 2014. The IPSS collaborates with the AU under an Executive Council mandate through the implementation of the Institute’s Africa Peace and Security Programme.

‘The ISS and IPSS are two leading organisations working with the AU and the partnership will enhance this aspect of our work,’ says Ambassador Alfred Dube, the ISS Office Director in Addis Ababa. ‘It also presents opportunities for ISS and IPSS to learn from each other, especially on emerging issues such as migration and maritime security’.

As a first step in implementing the agreement, the ISS’ African Centre for Peace and Security Training (ACPST) will co-host a symposium with IPSS in Ouagadougou on countering violent extremism in the G5 Sahel countries in November. ‘The partnership is crucial to ACPST given that both institutions are invested in training practitioners on how to develop and implement African peace and security policy’, says Golda Keng Ajode, Programme Manager of ACPST.

For more information contact:

Golda Keng Ajode, ISS: [email protected], +251 933 581 045