Students from the Legal Advice Centre at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Hargeisa have collaborated to produce free and publicly accessible information on human rights and peacebuilding.

Following the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding between Royal Holloway and the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies in 2020, this project saw students from both institutions working internationally to produce content on human rights and peacebuilding. This information is now available here.

The information aims to help people understand and identify abuses, be able to challenge human rights violations, and explain/support peacebuilding measures to promote peace and a functioning civil society. The website is also aimed at UK stakeholders to help develop a more effective and inclusive understanding of critical issues in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.

Although staff provided supervision, students were strongly encouraged to take control of the project. Our team heavily prioritised ‘student ownership’ as a constructive and valuable learning experience; as such, participants were deliberately trusted with significant responsibility for their own and their peers’ learning. Teams consisted of students across both institutions equally to fully promote international collaboration and maximise the benefits of peer learning with students from a different country/culture.

The project was also supported by Royal Holloway’s Centre for International Security and saw collaborative supervision across Law and Criminology and Politics and International Relations. More about the pedagogical aspects of the project can be found here.