"World events increasingly demonstrate that threats to peace, security and progress can only be restrained if there are men and women across the world who are motivated and qualified to prevent conflict, build peace, strive for justice and good governance and guide the processes of sustainable and equitable development. The mission of the University for Peace thus assumes increasing importance in the twenty-first century." – Former Secretary General Kofi Annan
Headquartered in Costa Rica, the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) was established in 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the UN General Assembly. As determined in the Charter of the University and endorsed by the UPEACE Council, the mission of the University for Peace is: "to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations."
At present, the UPEACE Costa Rica Campus has 200 students from 55 different countries, making it one of the most diverse universities in the world for its size. UPEACE is the only institution in the UN family authorized to grant degrees at the Master's and Doctoral levels in peace and conflict studies. The language of instruction is English.
Background:
To ensure academic freedom, the University was established under its own Charter, approved by the United Nations General Assembly. UPEACE is not subject to UN regulations and is directed by its own Council of renowned personalities with expertise in peace and security matters. This has allowed the University to move rapidly and to innovate, focusing its new, rigorous academic programme on the fundamental causes of conflict through a multidisciplinary, multicultural-oriented approach. The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon is the Honorary President of the University.
The wider mission of the University should be seen in the context of the worldwide peace and security objectives of the United Nations. The central importance of education, training and research in all their aspects to build the foundations of peace and progress and to reduce the prejudice and hatred on which violence, conflict and terrorism are based is increasingly recognized. The Charter of the University calls for UPEACE "to contribute to the great universal task of educating for peace by engaging in teaching, research, post-graduate training and dissemination of knowledge fundamental to the full development of the human person and societies through the interdisciplinary study of all matters related to peace".
Funding of UPEACE programs comes from the support of a number of donor governments, foundations and institutions who believe in the mission of the University. Fundraising for an endowment fund is in progress.
The vision of UPEACE is to become a network of collaborating UPEACE centres and activities in different regions, guided from its headquarters in Costa Rica and cooperating with a large number of universities, NGOs and other partners on education and research for peace.
Campus:
The Costa Rica campus of UPEACE sits on more than three square kilometres of beautiful land some 20 kilometers west of the capital, San José. The campus includes protected primary forest and a peace park, donated by the host government.
Organization:
UPEACE has eight one-year masters program at its Costa Rica Campus: International Law and Human Rights, International Law and the Settlement of Disputes, Gender and Peace Building, International Peace Studies, Peace Education, Environmental Security and Peace, and Media and Conflict and Peace. UPEACE also offers a Dual Graduate Program at the Master's level with American University in Washington D.C. After two years of academic work, these students receive an MA in International Affairs from American University's School of International Service and an MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from UPEACE.
In addition to its Costa Rica headquarters, the UPEACE system includes offices in Geneva and New York City, the Africa Regional Program office in Addis Ababa, the Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Program office in Costa Rica. Other regional program in Asia and the Pacific, and Central Asia are in development, as are other international centers.
The University recently established its Centre for Executive and Professional Education [UPEACE Centre for Executive and Professional Education, offering short courses to non registered students, on subjects that include Nonprofit Leadership, Corporate Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector, and Educating in the 21st Century. http://www.centre.upeace.org
The U.S. Association for the University for Peace is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2006 to advance the United Nations mandated University for Peace and the practice of education for peace in the United States. UPEACE/US projects include DCPEACE, an initiative to empower teachers, youth, and families with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively serve as peacebuilders in their communities and PeaceRooms, a program that connect classrooms of middle school students from Costa Rica and Washington D.C. through the use of innovative virtual networking technology for the purpose of developing core concepts of global citizenship and peace education. http://www.upeaceus.org
The UPEACE Sharing Knowledge for Peace Program (SKP) is a distance learning initiative which ensures that those unable to attend courses in Costa Rica or in one of the other UPEACE locations are reached through state-of-the-art dissemination methods.
With over 700 alums from over 85 countries, the UPEACE alumni community is one of the most diverse and close-knit networks of peacebuilders in the world. From human rights lawyers in Sierra Leone to aid workers in Afghanistan, from peace educators in Uganda to environmental economists in Peru, all upeace alums actively work for peace in its many manifestations and all carry with them the valuable knowledge, practical skills, and strong relationships made at UPEACE.
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