African Leadership Centre (ALC) Peace, Security & Development Fellowships 2024/2025 for African Scholars

The ALC is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Peace, Security and Development Fellowships for African Scholars. Apply below.

Application Deadline: 30th April 2024 23:59 hrs.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be taken at (country): Kings College London, UK. Candidate’s home country

About the Award: This Fellowship covers an 18-month period, comprising a rigorous training and research programme on peace, security and development, which includes a 12-Month MSc programme at King’s College London and a six-month attachment to an African University to undertake an independent research project.

The Fellowship programme is designed to expose junior African scholars to the complexities of security and development issues facing the African continent.

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:

• Taught MScs on Security, Leadership and Society, including mentoring and institutional attachments;
• Peacebuilding and Security research – with a focus on “Future Peace and the Role of the State in Africa”;
• Consolidating partnerships with African universities through transfer of specified and joint research outputs into virtual learning across partner institutions;
• Creating and strengthening digital knowledge transfer platforms and policy influencing processes.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: In order to be considered eligible,

• Candidates must be female citizens of African countries.
• Successful candidates must hold valid travel documents prior to acceptance.
• Candidates must hold a master’s or bachelor’s degree and added experiences in peace, security and development field is valued.
• Candidates must have knowledge of, or experience with 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.
• 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 in 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

Applicants to this programme may also be considered for the Early Career Peace, Security and Development Fellowship (non-degree awarding). The Early Career Fellowship only differs from the Fellowship for African Women in Phase 2 of the programme. In Phase 2, Early Career fellows do not go on attachment. Instead, they dedicate time to developing their research idea for publication as a journal article or a policy brief. This will mean travel to the organization`s home regional office or include field work and regular supervision by a mentor they will be attached to.

Number of Awardees:  Not specified

Value of Fellowship: 

• This is a fully funded opportunity, not including any visa application and processing costs. Funds will be made available to cover tuition, subsistence in the UK and Africa, accommodation, research-related costs, and all travel expenses related to the programme.
• While the ALC has guest rooms that fellows can rent whilst in Nairobi, successful applicants are expected to find their own accommodation at attachment institutions. Fellows are strongly advised to make all necessary accommodation arrangements prior to taking up their positions on the Fellowship Programme
• Successful fellows will have the status of full-time students on the post-graduate non-degree programme at ALC/King’s College London and hold affiliate status at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Duration of Fellowship: This is a one-year fellowship, divided into two six-month phases. Please note that successful candidates are required to make a full-time commitment to the programme. The programme is fully residential.

Phase 1: The first phase will be delivered at the ALC, Nairobi and King’s College London. During the training, fellows will be encouraged to engage critically with leadership studies and 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 practised.
Phase 2: 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.

How to Apply: Applications will be accepted ONLINE at the following link where you need to create an account to apply: http://applications.africanleadershipcentre.org/ The deadline for applications is 23:59 hrs EAT,
30th April 2024. Shortlisted candidates will be expected to attend face-to-face interviews at the ALC continental headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya in mid-June.
Before you begin your application, please take time to carefully go through the online application guidance available here.
The following documents are required before your application will be considered complete:

• Fully completed application questionnaire.
• A supporting statement of between 500 and 750 words – outline why you want to be part of this programme, what your unique contribution would be and what change you see yourself contributing to in your community/ area of work after the programme.
• 2 letters of recommendation (To be received directly from the Referees by the deadline of 23:59 hrs EAT, 
30th April 2024).
• Recent curriculum vitae of 2 pages maximum.
• One writing sample (maximum 1000 words each – example can include an original research paper, extracts from a dissertation, an essay paper, or policy paper relevant to peace and security).
• One reflective writing of 500 words on the following case – The conflict in Ukraine has been raging for more than a year. Daily global media outlets report on the impact of this conflict on peace, security and development across the world; Africa is not exempt. As a prospective ALC Peace, Security and Development Fellow, you are tasked with writing a reflective paper on the impact of the war in Ukraine on the African continent. Write a reflective paper on the impact of the war in Ukraine on Africa choosing one of the following dimensions: (i) the impact on contested gender relations in the continent; (ii) the impact on relations between citizens and the state and, in particular, young people; (iii) the types of leadership issues that African policymakers and practitioners would contend with as they seek to navigate the impacts of the war in Europe (500 words).

All supporting documents should be submitted via the online portal here. Please note that no email applications will be accepted. If you are experiencing problems with the online application portal, please contact us at admissions@africanleadershipcentre.org . We encourage all applicants to submit their applications early to avoid delays and failure to submit because of technical challenges.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

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