The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program at Columbia University Peace and Social Change Fellowship Program for women changemakers (Fully Funded to Nairobi, Kenya)
Application Deadline : Noon (Est) November 5, 2018
The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program at Columbia University is pleased to announce the launch of the Peace and Social Change Fellowship Program. The fellowship is designed to generate knowledge, build skills, strengthen relationships and exchange strategies among frontline women changemakers working on issues of social change, justice, and, more broadly, security for all people.
Through six-month fellowship cycles, cohorts of women changemakers representing a variety of geographic and thematic areas will come together as a critical learning community to learn from and with each other, both virtually and in person. As part of the fellowship, each fellow will be invited to bring representatives from their respective organizations/movements for two in-person workshops: one at the start of the fellowship and one at the end. All costs related to the in-person convenings will be covered.
The Peace and Social Change Fellowship Program is designed to bring together activists, practitioners and academics from across Africa to learn from and with each other, strengthen relationships, and exchange ideas with other grassroots women changemakers across the region. The fellowship is open to grassroots activists working broadly on the issue of peace and security. This includes less commonly recognized aspects of peace and security, such as land rights, economic equity, sexual and reproductive rights, and environmental realities, among other topics.
- The exchange and creation of knowledge with fellow grassroots activists and practitioners across Africa working broadly on aspects of peace and security, including themes such as reproductive health, environmental justice, refugee rights, gender based violence and more. Six months of ongoing exchange and skill-sharing workshops based on feedback and design by fellows ;
- Tailored research support from graduate students based on the needs and wishes of fellows and their organizations/movements ;
- The opportunity to learn from and develop relationships with other fellows and with a range of faculty and WPS program staff, including Nobel Laureate, peace activist, and WPS Executive Program Director Leymah Gbowee, among others.
Program Details
- The fellowship will begin with a three-day Peace and Social Change workshop that will take place in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2019 ;
- Fellows will be invited to bring one to two representatives from their organizations with them to the workshop in order to increase cross-learning within their respective organizations/ movements.
Benefits :
- All participants will have costs related to travel, lodging, and meals throughout the Nairobi workshop covered ;
- After the January workshop, Women, Peace and Security (WPS) program staff will facilitate six months of ongoing communication among the fellowship cohort via webinars and email ;
- WPS will also connect fellows with graduate student researchers from Columbia University and The Graduate Center of The City University of New York (CUNY). This team of graduate student researchers will help increase the visibility of fellows’ work and organizations through interdisciplinary research projects based on fellows’ feedback and reported needs. In July 2019, fellows, WPS staff and graduate student researchers will meet for a second gathering in Nairobi, Kenya to discuss and present their collaborative work.
The fellowship is designed for women grassroots activists who :
- Currently work on behalf of an African-based, grassroots-level organization or movement in the area of social justice and social change such as, but not limited to, gender based violence, land rights, climate change, maternal health, etc ;
- Currently reside in Africa ;
- Have a history of movement-building or change-making in their community ;
- Have some aspect of their work related to the theme of peace and security ;
- Are available to travel to Nairobi, Kenya in January 2019 and July 2019 for two three- day workshops ;
- Are interested in collaborating with graduate students from The United States to generate research for movement support ;
- All levels of experience are invited to apply ;
- Are 18 years of age or older ;
- Are proficient in English.