A meeting to establish a Partnership for Strengthening Institutional Capacity in Peace building and Conflict Transformation (PSICPCT)” Project entitled “HU-UIBK was held at Haramaya University on April 16, 2018.
Dr. Adinew Tadesse, Dean of College of Social Science and Humanities of Haramaya University, made a warm welcoming to the audience. Dr. Adinew, in his speech, said that winning such projects is a golden opportunity for the college as well as for the university as such projects play great role in building the capacity of staff in academic, research, and community engagement. He also reiterated that such partnership activities should continue in the future.
Prof. Nigussie Dechassa, the Vice President for Academic Affairs of Haramaya University in opening speech emphasized the strategic location of Haramaya University in working on peace and conflict issues and he appreciated the partnership established between CSSH of our university and the University of Innsbruck. He has also given the assurance that Haramaya University will provide utmost support to its staff in developing projects of this kind and win many other grants. At the end, he gave few remarks in German Language which motivated the audience and he officially opened the inauguration ceremony.
A presentation of the project briefing was made by the Project Coordinator Dr. Gutema Imana. Dr. Gutema, in his presentation, stressed on the key issues in the project such as Background, Project Developers, Objectives, Expected Outcomes, and Project Activities. According to his presentation, the general objective of the project is to enhance peace building efforts and conflict transformation approaches in academic and on the ground in Ethiopia. The expected outcomes of this project are: six staff exchanges, five seminars, four programmatic capacity building trainings (Curriculum Innovation), four conflict analysis and peace work trainings, PhD and Masters scholarship, two research findings, one culmination conference, and a plan for establishment of an Institute of Peace and Development, which makes the outcomes of the project sustainable. The project, with a-two-year-and-half life span, was initiated by Dr. Gutema Imana and developed by a team of academic staff under the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) of Haramaya University, Ethiopia with a strong coordination of Dr. Gutema and Mr. Tesfaye Gudeta in collaboration with a team of academic staff from the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies of the University of Innsbruck, Austria and funded in the framework of the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR) cooperation.
Academic staff members of CSSH, Postgraduate students of Peace and Development Studies at Haramaya University, two academic staff members from the UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies of the University of Innsbruck (Prof. Wolfgang Dietrich and Mr. Adham Hamed), and invited guests participated in this inauguration ceremony.
On behalf of the Austrian partners, Prof. Wolfgang Dietrich and Mr. Adham Hamed, also presented the experience and status of the Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Innsbruck which was lately launched in 2000 although the university was established in 1669. Both presenters emphasized that the partnership is a cornerstone in enhancing the institutional capacity in peace building and conflict transformation. On the occasion of a ceremony discussions were underway by the participants, in which a congratulatory remarks and encouraging words were forwarded to the team, the college, and the university. The participants emphasized the issue of sustainability of the project outcomes, research, and community engagement as a way forward.