Fellowships for African Women in Leadership and Peacebuilding

This award is available to young African women, particularly from conflict-affected contexts, interested in pursuing research, policy and practice careers in the field/s of peace, security and development. The fellowship programme is designed to expose African women to security and peacebuilding approaches using leadership studies to analyse these and, develop their expertise to generate African-led ideas and processes of change. The Fellowship aims to ground this expertise on peace and security in integrity and the pursuit of excellence.

The Fellowship is aligned with various regional and global peace and development frameworks including:

• UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) 1325 and 2250 which call for the increased involvement of women and youth in peace processes.
• Sustainable Development Goals 5- Gender Equality and 16- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• African Union Agenda 2063- Aspiration 4- A peaceful and secure Africa, Aspiration 6- An Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth, and caring for children and Aspiration 7- Africa as a strong, united, resilient and influential global player and partner.

The fellowship programme is well-rounded and aimed at building the expertise and capacity of African women, placing them in a position to challenge mainstream and patriarchal discourse on conflict and security related matters. Upon completion of the programme, fellows are equipped with academic knowledge, research skills, mentorship training, practical experience and are linked with a network of renowned African experts in the peace, security & development field, to further launch their careers.

Phases

The Programme is delivered into two phases:

• Phase 1: The first phase consists of a 12-month training programme based at King’s College London. This phase will comprise of regular group mentoring sessions with renowned academics, policy analysts and practitioners. It will also include a taught Master’s programme in Global Leadership and Peacebuilding, which will be taught at King’s College London. For a large part of this phase, fellows will be based at King’s College London. In addition, Fellows will spend brief periods at the African Leadership Centre (ALC) in Nairobi and Institute for Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Nairobi, where they will be required to undertake research and deliver research papers on peace, security and development in Africa.
  • Institutional Visits: During the 12-month period at King’s College in London, fellows will undertake visits to academic, policy and research institutions working on issues of peace, security and development.
• Phase 2: For the second phase, fellows will be attached to select partner universities or Centres of Excellence in Africa, for a period of 6 months. During this time, Fellows will work as faculty members and contribute to academic and policy research among other activities. This phase is designed to encourage the dissemination and exchange of ideas on the issues that were studied during the first phase of the programme.
  • Research Project: During phase 2, fellows will also be expected to conduct a research project on a key aspect of peace, security and development, and to produce a research report and a policy brief from their research. These outputs will be published and disseminated through relevant academic and policy platforms and publications. This phase of research and writing will last for 6 months.
  • Mentoring: During both phases, fellows will have access to the programme’s network of mentors, in the form of regular group mentoring and training on key thematic issues. One-on-one mentoring sessions will also be encouraged, so as to help guide students through the programme.

Eligibility 

• Candidates must be female citizens of African countries. Candidates from conflict-affected contexts are encouraged to apply.
• Successful candidates must hold valid travel documents prior to acceptance.
• Candidates must hold a master’s or bachelor’s degree and additional professional experience will be valued.
• Candidates must have knowledge of, or experience of women’s rights, gender and development issues.
• Candidates must be able to demonstrate a commitment to contribute to work on peace, security and development in Africa and show how a post graduate degree would enable them to do this.
• Candidates must be able to demonstrate capacity to undertake research on issues relating to peace, security and development in Africa.
• Candidates must demonstrate commitment to the core values of the programme: Promoting African led ideas and processes of Change; Independent thinking; Integrity; Pursuit of Excellence; Recognition of Youth Agency and Respect for diversity in all its forms.
• Candidates must have a demonstrable plan for how to utilise knowledge gained through the Fellowship, upon return to their countries and/ or organisations.
• Candidates must be fluent in spoken and written English as all aspects of the programme are delivered in English. An English Language Proficiency test will be required to gain unconditional acceptance on to the MSc.

For more information, visit King’s College London.