Vision and Mission of DHIPS

The DHLMI elaborated above and Dag Hammarskjöld’s preoccupation with contributing to global peace provides the building blocks for DHIPS’s vision and mission.

The Vision for the Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace Studies is:

Find something to live for and great enough to die for.

In fulfilling this vision, the Institute has the following Mission Statement:

Undertaking teaching, research at a high institution level and community service in peace, human rights, conflict management and sustainable development; enhancing the process of regional integration; and contributing to regional and international peace, stability and cooperation.

The Institute strives to keep alive the memory of the late Dag Hammarskjöld. In this regard, DHIPS is currently contributing to regional peace, stability and cooperation, through interactions with the African Union (AU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as well as with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); including with a myriad of other universities, Centres and Institutes on the African continent and beyond. The Institute is also involved in policy research work on Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) with the AU and the Government of Egypt. Further, the Institute participates in the “Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context” programme for the Southern African Region sponsored by the British Government and supported by the British Defence Academy and the Cranfield University in the United Kingdom as well as in some activities of the Zambian Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies (ZIDIS) and the Zambian government. 

The Dag Hammarskjöld Institute for Peace Studies conducts lectures, academic and policy research, in the area of human rights, governance and peace building; human security and development; and environment, sustainable development and peace including defence and security management and diplomacy and strategic studies. The Institution also disseminates information designed to mitigate conflict and enhance peaceful co-existence within and between communities and states. The Institute’s other responsibilities include outreach programmes in the themes mentioned above. In this regard the outreach programmes, target institutions, organisations and settlements within Zambia, with the objective of contributing to the enhancement of peace education. The subjects include women and the youth in peace building; democratic governance; and the promotion of peace and conflict resolution education, especially to Zambians living in areas bordering refugee camps.