Peace and Security Fellowships for African Women

The African Leadership Centre (ALC) was established in Kenya in June 2010 as a joint initiative of King’s College London and the University of Nairobi. The ALC is pleased to announce a call for applicationsa for the Peace and Security Fellowship for African Women for 2016/2017.

This Fellowship is an intellectual and financial award to those who are able to portray convincing demonstrable or potential capacity to bring about intellectual, policy or other change in their field. The Fellowship is a postgraduate non-degree programme, and does not lead to an academic qualification.
Since October 2011 the ALC, Conflict, Security and Development Group, King’s College London and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi, have delivered the Peace and Security Fellowships for African Women in partnership.
The ALC aims to build a new community of leaders generating cutting edge knowledge on peace, security and development. To this end, the ALC undertakes to do the following:

• Create an enabling environment for ideas that are grounded in African realities;
• Provide space for interaction with role models;
• Build capacity for independent thinking;
• Expand the knowledge base to develop transformational ideas that can be nurtured to create visions of change;
• Create opportunities to transfer knowledge to achieve multiplier effects for communities;
• Connect with processes nationally, regionally and globally, especially in the field of peace and security; and
• Build lasting partnerships that will maintain an African-led vision of change.

The Fellowships bring together African women in the early stages of their careers to undertake a carefully designed training programme in conflict, security and development. This training is followed by an attachment to an African Regional Organisation or a Centre of Excellence to acquire practical experience in the field of peace and security.

It is intended that this project will train African women to develop a better understanding of African peace and security issues, in order to increase their participation in conflict management processes and other areas of security concerns for Africans.

The Peace and Security Fellowship Programme for African Women is designed to expose professional African women at early stages of their careers to the complexities of conflict, security and development. The exposure is to equip them for careers in this field by developing their expertise to generate African-led ideas and processes of change for addressing challenges on the African continent. The Fellowships aim especially to ground this expertise on peace and security in integrity and the pursuit of excellence.

The Fellowship is conceived against a number of background factors:

• First is the comparatively low number of African women exposed to rigorous academic writing and policy analysis in the field of peace and security especially when compared with those involved in human rights and development issues.
• Second is the need to assist African women to meet the demands of the Beijing process and the subsequent UN Security Council Resolution 1325 that calls for the inclusion of women at all decision making levels in “all national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts”.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Candidates must be female citizens of African countries.
• Successful candidates must hold valid travel documents prior to acceptance.
• 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 and security in Africa
• Candidates must demonstrate commitment to the core values of the programme: Independent thinking; Integrity; Pursuit of Excellence; and a Value for all forms of Diversity
• Candidates must have a relevant institutional base and be endorsed by an organisation with which they have been involved for at least two years. Exceptional candidates without such organisational ties may be given special consideration
• Candidates must have a demonstrable plan for how to utilise knowledge gained in the Fellowship upon return to their countries and organisations
• Candidates must hold a Master’s or Bachelors degree with an equivalent level of professional experience.
• Candidates must be fluent in spoken and written English

Programme Details:

• This is a one-year Fellowship, divided into two six-month phases. The first phase will be delivered at the ALC/ King’s College London. During the training, the Fellows will be encouraged to engage critically with the discourse on conflict, security and development in Africa.
• They will also visit and study institutions working in the field of peace and security in Africa and Europe. This phase will include a simulation seminar series during which mock conflict management situations will be practiced.
• In the second phase, Fellows will be attached to an African regional organisation or Centre of Excellence to undertake practical work in the field of peace and security including peace and conflict management processes.

Fellowship Worth:

• This is a fully funded* opportunity, not including any visa application and processing costs. Funds will be made available to the Fellows to cover tuition, subsistence in the UK and Africa, and all travel expenses related to the programme in both phases.
• While funding will be made available to pay for accommodation, successful applicants are expected to find their own accommodation both in the UK and Africa. Fellows are strongly advised to make all necessary accommodation arrangements prior to taking up their positions on the Fellowship Programme.

* This project is supported by the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), the Allan & Nesta Trust and the Ferguson Charitable Trust. Fellowship opportunities are subject to continued funding support.

To  be  considered  for  the  Fellowship  please apply through the Online Application System by 17:00 hrs, Friday 18 March, 2016:

Ensure the following documents are attached in PDF format.

• A letter of application detailing your relevant experience and qualifications.
• A supporting statement no longer than 1,000 words, detailing why you think that this programme is important and future plans for engagement with peace and security issues.
• 2 letters of recommendation (after you submit names and contacts of referees, they will receive an email asking them to submit the reference using our online system. These references received directly from the Referees must be received by the deadline of 17:00 hrs, Friday 18 March, 2016).
• Recent curriculum vitae.
• Two writing samples (maximum 3000 words each).

Please indicate in your application letter, if you have completed the University application (Note that you are required to submit your application to the M.Sc. Security, Leadership and Society, King’s College London, as detailed above by the deadline of 17:00 hrs, Friday 18 March, 2016).

Please ensure all documents are attached as PDF attachments when using the Online Application System.

All supporting documents should be submitted via the online portal. Please note that no email applications will be accepted. If you are experiencing problems with the online application portal, please contact us at [email protected]

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the African Leadership Center Peace and Security Fellowship 2016 for African Women