The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is currently more affected by wars and gross human rights violations than any other region in the world. To address this critical reality, innovative and promising approaches to the promotion of peace must be developed and integrated into the higher educational system within the region. Both Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Studies are state-of-the-art approaches to transforming violent conflicts and triggering a social and cultural change. The development of Peace, Reconciliation, and Conflict Transformation Studies in the MENA region would transform the discipline, as well as the communities positively affected by their incorporation.The importance of this integration was acknowledged after the inauguration of the AAR where 45 Professors from 30 different Arab universities in the MENA region became members of the AARMENA. Today, we are working together to build capacity in the field of Higher Education (HEI) in Peace, Reconciliation and Conflict Transformation Studies in the MENA region. The program countries are Austria and Germany, in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck and Freidrich Schiller University. The partner countries are Jordan (University of Jorda, Petra University), Palestine Authority (Al-Istiklal University,Al-Azhar University), and Algeria (University of El Oued, Lamine Debaghine -Setif2). Our aim and focus are on the following :-The reinforcement of the existing network of cooperating partners through further regional, as well as international, cooperation to develop a program in Peace, Conflict Transformation, and Reconciliation Studies in HEI-Cooperation of UIBK UNESCO Chair for Peace Studies with Jena Centre for Reconciliation Studies JCRS in developing interactive reconciliation workshops and sessions for a teaching program in the hosting HEI's. -To advance curriculum development in Peace, Conflict Transformation, and Reconciliation Studies as academic degree in HEI.

ESAGOV aims at reinforcing the quality approach of governance in Algerian universities, starting from the construction of the university programme. The specific objectives are:- Strenghtening the role of universities in defining their own missions;- Strengthening the strategic skills of university leaders and academic and administrative staff;- Strengthening the evaluation mechanism and the quality approach within the universities.To this end, a first phase of research will be conducted through a comparative survey / benchmarking and a deepening of the external evaluation for the state of the art (WP1). The research will enable Algerian universities to define their action plan in order to elaborate the university programme (WP2). Staff capacity building will be conducted through modular training followed by three local training workshops and field visits in Europe (WP3). Staff capacity building will be completed within their own universities through local-level training of trainers (WP4). The project will then focus on each Algerian institution managing the pilot activities described in the action plans developed and defined in WP2. These pilot activities aims to build the university programme (WP5) and relies on the collaboration of European peers and on the consultation and participating of the different Ministries. In the short-term, this will strenghten the skills of the university staff in terms of governance and quality assurance, while contributing to the development of leadership engagement. In the long term, ESAGOV will increase the awareness of the benefits of governance and its challenges at University and institutional level, on both a national and regional scale.