Centre for Research and Action for Peace
| Abbreviation | CERAP |
|---|---|
| Established | 1962 |
| Location |
|
Official language | French |
Managing Director | Dr. Francis P. Kabore, SJ[1] |
Director of DIHR | Dr. Ludovic Lado, SJ |
Program coordinators |
Dr. Aristide Dossou, SJ Rodrigue Naortangar, SJ |
| Affiliations | Jesuit, Catholic |
| Website | CERAP |
Formerly called | African Institute for Economic and Social Development (INADES) |
Centre for Research and Action for Peace (CERAP) (Centre de Recherche et d'Action pour la Paix), Ivory Coast, began as the African Institute for Economic and Social Development (INADES), which the Jesuits founded in 1962 at the time of independence, at the request of the Catholic Bishops of West Africa, with its early focus on agricultural training. In 2002, in a time of national crisis, INADES expanded and changed its name to CERAP.
History
The CERAP is the heir of the former INADES (African Institute for Economic and Social Development) established in 1962 at the time when many African countries were achieving independence. It began with the wish of the Catholic bishops of West Africa to develop a center of Christian reflection on socio-economic development, with the cooperation of a similar center in France (CERAS),[2] and with the encouragement of political leaders in the Ivory Coast including President Félix Houphouët-Boigny.
During its first 40 years INADES built a large library and documentation center; offered basic technical training for the farmers, which in 1977 spread to a dozen African countries; opened a publishing house; and carried out social action in urban areas.[3]
Programs
On 9 May 2003, a time of political crisis, INADES changed its name to CERAP, Centre for Research and Action for Peace, and reorganized into four programs:
- CEDOC, created in 1964 under the name of IDOC, is the Documentation Centre for the social sciences, with a computerized catalogue and internet access to 62,657 monographs, 18,000 journal articles, four to five hundred journals, and hundreds of CDROMs.
- Social Action in Urban Areas (ASMU) since 1985 has offered free professional apprenticeships for disadvantaged youth.
- EDICERAP replaces INADES-Editions (1976-1992) and encourages papers and books by Ivorian authors, targeted for youth dropouts or illiterate underprivileged families. It also publishes the monthly Courrier Débats – West Africa, analysis of news from Africa and worldwide.
- The Institute of Dignity and Human Rights (DIHR) opened in 2003 grants diplomas and the masters degree in human rights, peace studies, economic ethics, and sustainable development, recognized by the Ivorian Ministry of Higher Education.[4] It provides annually more than 1,000 hours of academic courses and continuing education, while also conducting outreach programs for youth throughout the country.[3]
The Centre each Friday offers popular lectures by experts, on topics such as tolerance, peace, human rights, good governance, and democracy. It also conducts surveys and opinion polls on the values and lifestyles of the Ivorian people. In 2007, CERAP launched youth programs in 41 “peace villages”, training 179 teachers and staff in citizenship and conflict management. These teachers formed clubs in their schools and communities and, through a newspaper and annual camp, encourage good citizenship and conflict management. The children organized their own election of village leaders for training in democracy, a project that spread to Chad and Burkina Faso.[5]