Background The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University is a prominent Institute for higher education, research and policy dialogues on peace and security in Africa. Established in 2007, it ranks among the top 46 educational establishments and think tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Global Go to Think Tank Index Reports. IPSS serves as the Secretariat of the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa and was also selected as the Center of Excellence for Post Conflict Societies by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) in 2017. Moreover, the Institute runs the Africa Peace and Security Programme (APSP), a joint initiative with the African Union, which is mandated by the African Union’s Executive Council to take up the intellectual challenge of finding African-led solutions to peace and security in Africa. IPSS intends to make a substantive contribution to the contemporary discourse on peace and security on the African continent, and, more specifically, to assist the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs)/Regional Mechanisms (RMs) in the development of evidence-based and actionable policy options. The Institute also partners with other stakeholders such as the European Union (EU) in conducting research in Africa, aimed at centring the African perspective on African studies.