Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies

Contact No: +92-91-9222101
Email: ipcs@uop.edu.pk

Introduction

The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) is envisioned to bring Peace into the society by incorporating alternative conflict resolution mechanisms to the curriculum. The University of Peshawar is the pioneering institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa offering academic programs under the auspices of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) with the objective of producing both Innovative Researches and offering Academic Programs at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels.

The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies aims to attract and develop those groups of students who wish to deepen their understandings of the processes involved in conflicts and are interested in sharpening their knowledge of how to manage conflicts constructively. It offers the conjectural foundations that emboss the essential social psychological routes involved in understanding and managing conflicts at all levels i.e. interpersonal, intergroup, organizational, and international. 

Vision

The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies is the major forum for research and training in Pakistan for both mid-career professionals and young graduates of the country with focus on Peace Building, Peace Making, Social Cohesion enriched with the appropriate skills to address conflicts by peaceful means. The Institute is a major policy research centre specializing in policy researches and qualitative analysis addressing both national and international issues in its specialized area of focus.

Mission

The University of Peshawar is the oldest University of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one of the premier academic institutions established after independence of Pakistan in 1950. IPCS is a model of academic programing equipped with excellent human resources and competence in the field of peace and conflict studies coupled with the requisite resources and modern technology directed at transforming our rich cultural heritage into a knowledge base for future programing and national development. IPCS offers both its employer and beneficiaries a transparent environment of merit based learning and quality research facilities, from classroom to market and global cyber community. IPCS’s staff is focused on serving the nation through building a proper trained human resource in line with our national goals and future demands for social cohesion, Peace Building and in developing a sound research base. 

Objectives

  • To develop a human resource equipped in handling conflicts peacefully
  • To develop such researchers who can work indigenously on local conflicts and offer indigenous solutions for them.
  • To generate a data base of relevant researches that may be used as guide in the policy making regarding conflict prevention and its resolution. local and foreign researchers and using their input in assessing conflicts.
  • To develop an understanding of peace as source of personal and social stability and happiness.

Projects And Partnerships

Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, in its first decade since inception, has covered numerous projects and formed many partnerships, notable among them are:

  • Collaboration with Pakistan US Alumni Network: The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) collaborate with the Pak-US  Alumni Network wherein, IPCS hosts interns from the  network. Currently Ms. Saba serves as intern under the mentorship of Prof. Jamil Ahmad Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. 
  • Global Opportunities and International Exposures: Mr Hamidullah, MS Scholar IPCS shall represent University of Peshawar as the First cohort from Pakistan in the 33rd Annual Human Rights and People’s Diplomacy Training Program for Human Rights Defenders (Asia-Pacific Region and Indigenous Australia) scheduled at Timor-Leste this August 2025. This is under Huqooq-e-Pakistan 2 project, supported by the European Union and UNDP, to attend a training program abroad. This pilot mobility scheme involves the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), the University of Peshawar (IPCS), the Habib University Karachi, and the University of Baluchistan. The training provides chance to meet experts, faculty, activists, and human rights defenders from across Southeast Asia!
  • Signed Letter Of Agreement (LOA) between UNDP and IPCS University of Peshawar for the Implementation of 2-week-long Training Program "The Insider Mediators:Understanding Conflict Human Rights, and Resolution' Under the Decentralization, Human Rights and Local Governance (DHL) Project from 11 Aug 2025 to 30 Sep 2025.
  •  Partnership with UNDP – RAHA over Capacity Building Trainings in 06 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Signed MoU with Center for Peace and Development Initiatives for Civic Engagement of students at University of Peshawar.
  • Signed MoU with Waterloo University and Wilfrid Laurier University of Canada.
  • Signed MoU with University of Rio de Janerio, Brazil (UERJ)
  • VPPD Project with UNDP (2015-18)
    • Virtual Platform for Peace and Development Observation & Analysis (VPPD) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
    • The project deals with data collection that focuses on pressing and inter-connected issues of the Youth Bulge, Peace, Social Cohesion, and Development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
    • The Virtual Platform will collect Open Data on these issues in KP, and visualize and analyse this data in a useful way for government decision makers.