Press release: Empowering the peace process in Colombia

Nr. 235/2016 - 07.11.2016

Göttingen University helps establish German-Colombian peace institute

(pug) The University of Göttingen is participating in the establishment of the German-Colombian Peace Institute (DKFI) in the Colombian capital of Bogotá. From autumn 2016, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will be providing funds of up to € 400,000 a year for ten years, earmarked from the budget of the Federal Foreign Office. The project will be managed by the University of Giessen with the participation of the Freie Universität Berlin and the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt.

“The DKFI's mission is to empower the ongoing peace process in Colombia and support the peaceful renewal of state and civil society,“ explains Professor Kai Ambos of Göttingen University's Faculty of Law and Director of the Centro de Estudios de Derecho Penal y Procesal Penal Latinoamericano (CEDPAL). “As a research, study and advisory institution, it aims to provide expertise on important questions relating to peace research, coming to terms with the past/culture of memory, conflict prevention and the development of a peaceful society.“ With its application-oriented alignment along the topics of "Peace Studies“ and "Transitional Justice“, the DKFI represents a new facet of academic cooperation at a time when universities and academic funding in Colombia are realigning themselves as well.

“We emphatically encourage this project,“ declares Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne, Vice-President for International Affairs at Göttingen University. “Through research and the education of young people, this project serves in peace-building in an important region in Latin America that we have been collaborating intensely with in research and teaching for a long time.“ The University of Göttingen is further supporting this project by setting up a position that will be nested at DKFI in Bogotá and initially last for three years. Professor Ambos and Professor José Martinez are representing the University Göttingen in the consortium.

One Colombian partner is the "Alliance of Universities for Peace“, headquartered at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá. Additionally, other institutions of higher education in regions affected by armed conflicts will also be enlisted. The peace process in Colombia will impact the country's research agenda for years to come. The abundance of joint projects between German and Colombian institutions of higher education will be concentrated at the DKFI and have an emphasis on subject-specific Master's and doctoral degree programmes. The official inaugural ceremony for the DKFI is anticipated to be held in May 2017.

Contact:
Professor Kai Ambos, Regional Court Judge
University of Göttingen
Faculty of Law
Department for Foreign and International Criminal Law
Centro de Estudios de Derecho Penal y Procesal Penal Latinoamericano
Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Phone +49 551 39-7430
Email: lehrstuhl.ambos@jura.uni-goettingen.de
Internet: www.department-ambos.uni-goettingen.de/index.php/en/ and http://cedpal.uni-goettingen.de