Background

The Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (DHIPS) at the Copperbelt University is the forbearer of the Dag Hammarskjöld Chair of Peace, Human Rights and Conflict Management established on 11 November 2002 but officially launched in February 2003 in memory of Dag Hammarskjöld, the Second Secretary-General of the United Nations who was in 1961 killed in an aircraft crash in the vicinity of the city of Ndola, the Provincial Capital of the Copperbelt Province. He was on a United Nations mission to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Congo, later to become the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Chair, whose pro-active instrument was envisaged as that of research, workshops, colloquiums and seminars on peace, human rights and conflict management was operationalized through the setting up of DHIPS and the appointment of a Director. The Institute will in due course move to the vicinity of this crash site.

The Institute’s role was determined in 2003 by four components of the Dag Hammarskjöld Living Memorial Initiative (DHLMI), a collaborative project between the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), the Zambian Government, the Swedish and Nordic Missions in Zambia and the Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation in 2003. The components are summarized below as follows:

• Component 1: To conduct research, workshops, colloquiums and seminars in peace, human rights and conflict management, including the inauguration of a Lecture Series inspired by Mary Robinson’s presentation at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The Institute will also coordinate with other relevant institutions within and outside Zambia. This component has in the past been operationalised through workshops and seminars with such deliverables as the conference proceedings “From Dag Hammarskjöld to Date: The Genesis and Evolution of the Democratic Republic of Congo Conflict” held in Kitwe, Zambia from 27 to 29 July 2005. The other deliverable was the monograph “Civil-Military Relations in Zambia” published in 2004. The Institute has also planned a number of similar workshops, seminars and research undertakings. Efforts are underway to communicate with the United Nations for the inauguration of the “Sustainable Development Lecture Series;
• Component 2: To carry out in-depth research and studies on Zambia’s role in the sub-regional, regional and international peace negotiations, including Zambia’s active role in the UN Peace Keeping and Electoral Observer Missions abroad. In this respect DHIPS would, in addition to the actual research and studies on Zambia, serve as a coordinating hub for other institutions in the country and beyond. The Institute is currently studying manuscripts on this component with a view of publishing and disseminating the research findings;
• Component 3: To conduct research in the Triangular Areas of Human Rights, Environment and Sustainable Development as presented to the WSSD by Mary Robinson and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Topler. The Institute will endeavour to work with other institutions and individuals in undertaking this component. The research in this area will be commissioned in the course of 2011 with a focus on environmental challenges in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region;
• Component 4: To provide integral linkage of the Chair and now the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace Studies, with other programmes and dimensions of the DHLMI such as refugee dimensions and the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR). The Institute shall undertake in-depth research through Special Research Fellows (SRFs) with their work culminating into doctoral dissertations and consequently contributing to the research work by DHIPS. Research students and Fellows from abroad will also enhance the Institute’s research work. The Institute is currently discussing with a number of universities and institutes in Zambia, the region and further afield. These include discussions with Lubumbashi University in the DRC, Kings College in London, University of Ibadan in Nigeria, the SADC Regional Peace Keeping Centre (RPTC) and Mzuzu University in Malawi. Other discussions are with Cranfield University, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies in Uppsala, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and Levy Mwanawasa Regional Centre for Democracy and Good Governance, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Uppsala;
• Component 5: To carry out research and conduct workshops in order for the Chair and now the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace Studies, to define conflict and recognize conflict management as a combination of dispute prevention and dispute resolution. Graduate students are conducting both conceptual and empirical studies, some of which will be selected for publications under DHIPS and other publishing houses. The work by the Strategic Studies Group (SSG) is expected to bolster the Institute’s research agenda. The Institute undertakes periodic seminars, some of which are with high-level local and international speakers.