Paramadina, Harvard build peace lab

JAKARTA: Paramadina University and the United States' Harvard University have agreed to jointly establish the Southeast Asia Peace Lab, which is aimed at fostering peace and resolving conflicts in Southeast Asia.

"This project is aimed at providing training for peace-building professionals in Indonesia and neighboring countries," Paramadina rector Anies Baswedan said Thursday after signing a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the peace lab with Harvard professor Claude Bruderlein.

Bruderlein is the director of Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR), which provides training and establishes networking for professionals in the peace field.

The establishment of the SEA Peace Lab will mean Jakarta will become one of HPCR's five hubs, with the others already established in Boston and New York (the United States); Brussels and Geneva (Europe); Amman (the Middle East) and Nairobi (Africa). -- JP