IPS offers its fourth round of courses from the 9th of June to the 20th of October 2010. This year the Institute offers six courses: Conflict Resolution, Research and Training Methods in Peace and Conflict Studies, Negotiation & Mediation in a Cultural Context, Gender and Peace Building, Challenges of Building Culture(s) of Peace and, Conflict Transformation. All six courses are taught by professors from Egypt and the University for Peace in Costa Rica and learners will be issued joint certificates from IPS and UPEACE.

As part of its Distinguished Lectures Series, IPS hosted a lecture by Mr. Kjell Magne Bondevik, Former Prime Minister of Norway and President of the Oslo Centre for Peace and Human Rights.
The lecture was held on the 9th of February 2010 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center, Delegates Hall. Mr. Bondevik spoke about “Towards a Culture of Dialogue”.

This two-day event is the beginning of a series of regional seminars which will bring together representatives of government, multi-lateral, academic, research and policy development institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations from the West Asia and North Africa Region to promote dialogue and partnerships around the challenges to human security in the WANA region.  The event aims to contribute to an emerging, integrated approach to addressing human security issues through the development of relationships, alliances, networks and shared understanding of problems common to the region.  The dialogue will also highlight and build advocacy for the resources available in the region that can facilitate mutually beneficial solutions.

IPS hosted a two day preparatory meeting  in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bring together representatives from 45 countries and 21 international organizations that are partners in the Alliance of Civilizations. The conveners discussed the Euro-Mediterranean strategy to activate the goals of the Alliance.
 

Professor Sture Linner who served with UN Secretary General Dag  Hammarskjold gave a lecture on his experience with the former UN Secretary General on the 16th of December.

The Spanish Society for International Human Rights Law (SSIHRL, Oviedo, Spain) in collaboration with the Institute for Peace Studies (IPS) organized an “Arab Expert Meeting on the Human Right to Peace” on the 7th of December 2009 in Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The main objectives of the meeting were:

• To share the Luarca Declaration on the Human Right to Peace with civil society, international organisations and academics from the Arab and Muslim world;
• To identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Luarca Declaration with the purpose of promoting sustainable peace in the Arab  region;
• To contribute to the elaboration of a draft of a universal declaration on the human right to peace which should represent the interest of the international civil society as a whole, including that of people from the Arab and Muslim world
• To study the role played by vulnerable and marginalized groups in the development of the human right to peace in the Arab region;
• To analyse the impact of the gender approach in the promotion of the human right to peace in the Arab region.

Alexandria Declaration EN.pdf
 

The Institute for Peace Studies and the Child Mental Health Association (CMHA) held a one day seminar on violence among children and adolescents globally and nationally. Panelists and professionals in the field of child psychiatry and mental health discussed different forms of violence management and prevention. The seminar aimed to address the following issues:
 
• Role of parents in controlling violence among children and adolescents.
• How schools can help to control violence in the school environment.
• How children can help control violence.
 

IPS co-hosted this conference in collaboration with the Swedish Institute in Alexandria, the Folke Bernadotte Academy and Gothenberg University on the 4th and5th of November 2009. The conference will bring together a group of scholars and practitioners from the Nordic countries and the Arab world. The conference has several mutually reinforcing goals. One goal is to promote policy relevant and solid empirical research. Another goal is to create an opportunity for a mutually beneficial learning and research promoting exchange of knowledge among scholars and practitioners. A final goal is to collect and disseminate lessons learned from practitioners and research insights from scholars.

IPS hosted a five-day workshop with the University of Maryland Center for International Development  and Conflict Management. The workshop will use  Nile Water Management as a case study for the workshop on Conflict Resolution. Participants are mainly young learners and specialists. Professors Kaufman and Davies from UMD will be conducting the workshop.

The Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement (SMWIPM) and The Institute for Peace Studies (IPS) celebrated the International Peace Day by supporting the United Nations’ “WMD – We Must Disarm” campaign launched in June 2009 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. IPS supported this campaign by signing the declaration, and inviting all its students to do the same.