KAIPTC launches maiden edition of Journal of African Peace and Security
Accra: 11th December, 2018: The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) has launched its maiden Journal of African Peace and Security (JAPS). The journal is the first to be published by an ECOWAS Training Centre of Excellence (TCE) in West Africa.
It is a scholarly journal that creates an avenue for innovative ideas to be presented to a wider readership on the sources of conflict and the conditions for peace and security in Africa.
The JAPS is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to deepening knowledge and understanding of issues around African peace and security, while strengthening the policy relevance of research on the continent. Recognising knowledge as a ‘public good’, the journal offers open access to top-quality articles that provide fresh and critical insights into African peace and security. Consistent with this philosophy, the journal serves as a platform for cutting-edge research targeted at academics, policy professionals and students. JAPS is designed for researchers seeking to publish in an African-based journal of the highest international standard and reputation, as well as practitioners interested in illuminating their understanding of the issues that shape the dynamics of conflict, security, stability and development in Africa. JAPS publishes research articles, review articles and book reviews.
Sharing the objectives for the JAPS, the Commandant of KAIPTC, Air Vice Marshal GS Evans, noted that the Journal aims at providing an open but rigorous scholarly platform that encourages critical analysis and sustained reflections on African peace and security; it also aims to encourage the publication of original research findings on African peace and security that are informed by theory and practice from diverse perspectives; it also provides the platform for publishing basic and applied research, in the form of research articles, review articles and book reviews that stimulates innovative ideas while providing policy professionals with policy-relevant advice. Further, it provides inspiration for intellectual reflection and publication among young African scholars.
He added that the Journal will contribute to improving the overall quality of KAIPTC courses and the policy development support delivered by the centre, through regular review of these initiatives in line with trends and policy-relevant recommendations suggested in the journal, and that ultimately, it is expected to improve knowledge and understanding of issues around conflict, peace and security in Africa.
Being an international journal and the first to be published by an ECOWAS Training Centre of Excellence, the JAPS is a major milestone in KAIPTC’s vision to become the leading and preferred Centre for training, education and research in African peace and security.
At a time when the peace and security environment on the continent continues to witness several challenges, the JAPS is one of the few publications on the African continent dedicated to enhancing the interfaces between theory and practice in peace and security through a commitment to policy-relevant research.
The Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor are Dr Kwesi Aning, Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, KAIPTC, and Dr Kwaku Danso, a Research Fellow at KAIPTC respectively.
The editorial advisory board comprise accomplished academics such as Professors Dora F. Edu-Buandoh and John Mensah from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Prof. Alexander Bellamy from University of Queensland, Australia, Prof. Paul Nugent of University of Edinburgh, Dr. Volker Frank of Kennesaw State University, USA, Dr. Marsha Henry, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, Prof. Paul D. Williams from the International Peace Institute, New York, Dr. Cyril Obi of African Peacebuilding Network, USA, Prof Ramesh Thakur from the Australian National University, and Prof Olawale Albert, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
The JAPS is a biannual publication.
For further information, please contact the Corporate Affairs Unit of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) on +233302-718200 ext 1104/1203 or +233 550 303030. You can find the KAIPTC on facebook and twitter as: @Kaiptcgh. You can further find out more about the KAIPTC on our website: www.kaiptc.org.
About the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre:
The Ghana Ministry of Defence (MoD) established the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in 1998 and commissioned it in 2004. The purpose was to build upon and share Ghana’s five decades of internationally acclaimed experience and competence in peace operations with other states in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region and the rest of Africa. This was in recognition of the need for training military, police and civilian men and women to meet the changing demands of multidimensional peace operations. The Centre is one of the three (3) Peacekeeping Training Centres of Excellence mandated by the ECOWAS to offer training in peacekeeping and peace support operations (PSO) in Africa.
The Centre delivers training courses in in three thematic areas; Peace Support Operations, Conflict Management and Peace and Security Studies and also runs Masters and PhD programmes in same. The KAIPTC has a world-class research department that undertakes research in the thematic areas in Peace and Security. Located in Accra, Ghana, the KAIPTC is an internationally-recognized institution and has till date trained and tutored over 18,500 participants and students since its inception.
KAIPTC is a gender sensitive organization and committed to gender equality. Following the launch of its Gender policy in 2014, the Centre has mainstreamed gender into its policies and programmes, and integrates same in its focal areas, namely training, research and post-graduate education. The Centre has developed a Sexual Harassment policy and fully oriented employees on same. It has also provided a Nursing and Childcare Centre and instituted a paternity leave policy, all with the aim to create a conducive work environment at KAIPTC.