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The electoral conflict experienced in Kenya in 2008 occasioned the rise of peace and conflict research in the country. Before the conflict, only one university in Kenya—Daystar University—offered a diploma in peace education. After the conflict, peace and conflict research was mainstreamed in universities across the country. Besides universities and established international policy institutes, for instance, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, there was a proliferation of think tanks, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) involved in peace and conflict interventions. There was also a notable rise of faith-based and youth- and women-led organizations that initiated peace interventions at a grassroots level. Following the signing of the National Accord in February 2008, these institutions, think tanks, NGOs, and CSOs worked with international development, humanitarian, and financing agencies to deploy interventions at the national, regional, and grassroots levels that enhanced the infrastructure for peace, thus paving the way for peace and stability in Kenya. There was, however, also a contestation between peace and conflict scholars, on the one hand, and peace and conflict practitioners, on the other. While scholars contested that practitioners lacked the technical knowledge on interventions in conflict-affected contexts, practitioners argued that scholars lacked the requisite experience to implement peace interventions. The proliferation of peace practitioners also occasioned the rise of conflict entrepreneurs who, while working with international and local actors, lacked the requisite expertise to initiate sustainable conflict transformation interventions. Drawing from the programs initiated by international and local actors after the signing of the Accord, this chapter explores the gaps and gains in the interventions initiated, showing how peace and conflict research and education has informed policy and practice across intervention spaces in conflict-affected contexts in Kenya.

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Navigating International Interventions: Gaps and Gains in Peace Research and Practice in Post-National Accord Kenya

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  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Muema Wambua

摘要

The electoral conflict experienced in Kenya in 2008 occasioned the rise of peace and conflict research in the country. Before the conflict, only one university in Kenya—Daystar University—offered a diploma in peace education. After the conflict, peace and conflict research was mainstreamed in universities across the country. Besides universities and established international policy institutes, for instance, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, there was a proliferation of think tanks, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) involved in peace and conflict interventions. There was also a notable rise of faith-based and youth- and women-led organizations that initiated peace interventions at a grassroots level. Following the signing of the National Accord in February 2008, these institutions, think tanks, NGOs, and CSOs worked with international development, humanitarian, and financing agencies to deploy interventions at the national, regional, and grassroots levels that enhanced the infrastructure for peace, thus paving the way for peace and stability in Kenya. There was, however, also a contestation between peace and conflict scholars, on the one hand, and peace and conflict practitioners, on the other. While scholars contested that practitioners lacked the technical knowledge on interventions in conflict-affected contexts, practitioners argued that scholars lacked the requisite experience to implement peace interventions. The proliferation of peace practitioners also occasioned the rise of conflict entrepreneurs who, while working with international and local actors, lacked the requisite expertise to initiate sustainable conflict transformation interventions. Drawing from the programs initiated by international and local actors after the signing of the Accord, this chapter explores the gaps and gains in the interventions initiated, showing how peace and conflict research and education has informed policy and practice across intervention spaces in conflict-affected contexts in Kenya.