The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), our cooperation partner at Addis Ababa University, was founded in 2007 in coordination with the Danish embassy and the United Nations programme “University for Peace” (UPeace). The idea was to set up a research centre for peace and security in the Horn of Africa. The development of IPSS was further propelled when it received the status of an excellence centre by Addis Ababa University in 2010. The institute has developed from a small group of academics to an important hub of research and innovation with five study programmes. The University of Pennsylvania ranks it (“Global Go to Think Tank Index Reports”) as one of the 50 most influential think tanks in Africa.

Regularly attending students as well as senior executives from international organizations seek to advance their careers through one of the programmes that IPSS offers. The emphasis of these programmes is placed on locally produced academic knowledge: “African solutions for African problems” (George Ayittey). The Horn of Africa plays a special role, and it is rather anglophone Africa that is under investigation ,while the all-African, pan-African perspective never stops to serve as reference. The IPSS hosts conferences, panel discussions, and policy meetings, which are attended by high-ranking officials, representative of embassies, and directors of international organizations. The IPSS is at the heart of African politics due to its location in Addis Ababa, and its connections to the political community at large. Students can develop their personal networks, get contacts for undertaking an internship, and create job opportunities.