| Purpose: |
Sweden's Life & Peace Institute (LPI) is an international and ecumenical centre for peace research and action. Established by the Swedish Ecumenical Council in 1985, LPI aims to further the cause of justice, peace and reconciliation through a combination or research, seminars and publications.LPI's Horn of Africa Programme, based in Nairobi, combines research with practical support for grassroots peace building initiatives in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia/Somaliland, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. |
| Illustrative Project: |
LPI's Somali Programme offers assistance in developing bottom-up structures of governance and encompasses a civic education programme addressing topics such as participatory democracy and conflict resolution/peace building. The education programme is aimed primarily at women, elders, media workers, artists, and local NGO staff. The Somali Programme also provides support for locally initiated, bottom-up reconciliation efforts, includes an advocacy component, and involves research on conflict transformation issues. In Sudan, LPI works in partnership with organisations operating in the south of the country, providing conflict transformation training to local staff, who then provide training to peace volunteers working at the community level. It has carried out a study of the causes of ethnic conflict in Ethiopia.With the emergency of Eritrea as an independent nation, LPI has undertaken an extensive study of the challange of repartriating and integrating 400,000 Eritrean refugees who fled to Sudan during the independence struggle. In Burundi, LPI supports research investigating traditional conflict management mechanisms. It has also provided conflict transformation and peace-building training for reginal organisations, including the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development. Also on a regional basis, LPI has undertaken a study focusing on the potential for economic and political co-operation among the nations of the Horn of Africa. The findings are presented in 'Trading Places'.LPI has published a number of publications and research reports including The Horn of Africa Bulletin; Ready and Willing...but still waiting; Eritrean refugees in Sudan and the dilemmas of return, Horn of Africa series; Trading Places, 1997; Building the Peace, Experiences of Collaborative Peacebuilding in Somalia 1993-1996. |
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