Academic Research

Mercy Fekadu (PhD), Associate Professor

Mercy Fekadu (PhD), Associate Professor

Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Director ARUA

Tilahun Bejitual (PhD)

Tilahun Bejitual (PhD)

Lead Researcher

Nahom Birhanu Seyoum

Nahom Birhanu Seyoum

Junior Researcher

Eyoseyas Mekonnen Zewdie

Eyoseyas Mekonnen Zewdie

Junior Researcher

Yared Debebe (PhD)

Yared Debebe (PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Semir Yusuf (PhD)

Semir Yusuf (PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Yselle Flora Malah-Kuete

Yselle Flora Malah-Kuete

ARUA Fellow

Alemayehu Gurmu (PhD)

Alemayehu Gurmu (PhD)

Lead Researcher

Asebe Amenu (PhD)

Asebe Amenu (PhD)

Researcher

Bethlehem Zeleke Ewnetu

Bethlehem Zeleke Ewnetu

Junior Researcher

Brice Kamguia(PhD)

Brice Kamguia(PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Thomas Chukwuma (PhD)

Thomas Chukwuma (PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Dr. ISHMAEL ADJEI

Dr. ISHMAEL ADJEI

ARUA Fellow

Mercy Fekadu, Associate Professor

Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies

Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta (Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor and Interim Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies, AAU, and Secretariat Member of the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa (Nov 2011–On-Going). Her research interests include; Borderland Governance, Boundary and Territorial conflict, Security Governance, Statehood, Conflict, Small Arms and Light Weapons, Disarmament, Regionalisms, Women, Peace, and Security.

Research grants won:

  • Principal Investigator (Oct 2020 to Oct 2021): Facebook-funded research project entitled Dangerous Speech, Social Media and Violence in Ethiopia;
  • Co-Investigator (April 2020 to March 2023): UKRI/ GCRF funded project entitled Dangerous Speech, Social Media and Violence in Ethiopia;
  • Principal Investigator(May to August 2020): Netherland Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD)  funded project entitled Probing the practice of Representation for informed Intervention in Parliaments (PRIP): Focus on the House of People’s Representatives of Ethiopia;
  • Principal Investigator (2018 to Dec 2019): GIZ/ African Union border programme funded Research project entitled Research on Boundary and Territorial Conflict Eastern and Greater Horn of Africa;Principal Investigator(2018-2019): Global Research Network on Parliaments and People funded research project entitled Bridging research and innovation for democratic governance and enhanced participation (BRIDGE 4 Participation);
  • Principal Investigator (2017-2019): ESRC – DfID funded research project entitled Shifting Inequality Dynamics in Ethiopia: From Research to Practice (SIDERA);

 

Recent publications:

  • Hodbod, J., Stevenson, E. G., Akall, G., Akuja, T., Angelei, I., Bedasso, E. A., … Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta& Kamski, B. (2019). Social-ecological change in the Omo-Turkana basin: A synthesis of current developments. Ambio, 1-17.
  • Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta;Gebresenbet, F., Tariku, Y., & Nettir, E. (2019). Fundamental Challenges in Academic–Government Partnership in Conflict Research in the Pastoral Lowlands of Ethiopia. IDSBulletin, 50(1).
  • Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta(2017) Small Arms And Conflict Among East African Pastoralists: The Karamoja (In)Security Complex. Africa, 87(4), Oct 2017.
  • Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta, Gebresenbet, F., and Kamski, B. (2019). Sugar industry in the Lower Omo: Exploring different scenarios of privatization. (Briefing Note #6). In Omo-Turkana Research Network Briefing Notes, edited by J. Hodbod & E.G.J. Stevenson. East Lansing, MI: OTuRN.
  • Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta.Digital Participation in Ethiopia: A presentation of a web based application (BRIDGE)for the House of People’s Representatives. (2019). Policy Brief. Bete-Semay Creative Media.

Tilahun Bejitual (PhD)

Lead Researcher

Tilahun Bejitual Zellelew is an Assistant Professor and Lead Researcher at AAU’s Institute for Peace and Security Studies. After beginning his academic career at Bahir Dar University, he earned Master’s degrees from the universities of Strasbourg, Bologna and AAU, followed by an interdisciplinary PhD in Cultural Studies/Historical and Cultural Anthropology across universities in Germany, Italy, and Brazil. With a Diploma in Migration Management from Maastricht University, his background merges global scholarly training with advisory and consultancy roles for various governmental and non-governmental institutions. He currently integrates his interdisciplinary academic expertise with peacebuilding and migration practice across the Horn of Africa. His publications and research interests focus, among others, on diversity management, inter-religious encounters, dialogue, peacebuilding, migration, memory studies, and social capital.

Publications:

  • Wakene Wakeweya, Tilahun Bejitual & Tesfamariam Gebremeskel. 2023. Exploring Natural Resource Conservation Mechanisms in Oromo Orature: Ecopoetic Study of Selected Maccaa Oromo Agricultural Rites. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1): 100544 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100544
  • Habtemariam AG., Ayenew G., Tilahun B. 2023. Thematic Analysis of Pastiche as an Intertextual Technicque: Book of Ziq in Focus. Dmujids 7(1): DOI:10.20372/dmujids
  • Tilahun Bejitual. 2021. The Inauthentic Existence and Other Essays (Book Review). Ethiopian Journal of Language, Culture and Communication. 6(1): 149-153
  • Hirut Admasu, Tilahun Bejitual & Tesfamariam Gebremeskel, 2020. Beyond the male gaze: a study of female protagonists in selected Amharic films. Ethiopian Journal of Language and Culture, 5(2): 46-65 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ejlcc/article/view/280521
  • Tilahun Bejitual. 2016. (E)Utopia (Book Review) Ethiopian Journal of Language, Culture and Communication. 1(2): 167-175.
  • Zellelew, TB. 2015a. “Religious Food Taboo as a Cause of Reciprocal Hospitality between Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Ethiopia.” Food Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal5(2): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.18848/2160-1933/CGP/v05i02/40499
  • Zellelew, TB. 2015b. “The Semiotics of the ‘Christian/Muslim knife’: Meat and Knife as Markers of Religious Identity in Ethiopia” Signs and Society 3(1): 44-70. http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/678981
  • Zellelew, TB. 2015. Narratives beyond the Knife: Food Contexts as Converging & Diverging Zones in Christian Muslim Encounters in Ethiopia. PhD Dissertation, Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen, Germany http://dx.doi.org/10.15496/publikation-5638
  • Zellelew, TB. 2014. “Meat Abstinence and its Environmental Effect: Examining the Fasting Etiquettes of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.” Critical Research on Religion. 2 (2): 134 146. http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303214535002
  • Abebaw Y. & Tilahun B. 2007. “Higher Education Institutions as Pavilions of Diversity.” The Ethiopian Journal of Higher Education 4 (1): 49-68. http://ejol.aau.edu.et/index.php/EJHE/article/view/509
  • Tilahun Bejitual. 2007. Management of On-Campus Conflicts in Higher Education Institutions: A Multicultural Perspective, MA Thesis, Addis Ababa University

 

Other publications:

  • Tilahun B. Zellelew. (ed.) 2023. Proceedings of Business for Peace Conference. Initiative Africa: Addis Ababa.
  • Tilahun B. Zellelew. 2022. The Role of Arts and Culture in Peacebuilding in Ethiopia. Selam Ethiopia: Addis Ababa https://selamethiopia.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/The-Role-of-Arts-and-Culture-in-Peacebuilding-in-Ethiopia-v2.pdf
  • Tilahun Bejitual & Moges Demissie. 2021. Associational Life and Conflict Mitigation in Ethiopia: The Case of Associations and Social Capital in Amhara Regional State. Hateta Policy Research: Addis Ababa

Yared Debebe (PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Yared Debebe is a 2026 ARUA Early Career Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University. Since earning his Ph.D. in Peace and Security Studies in 2023 from IPSS, his academic work has centered on the Horn of Africa. His primary research interests include the political economy of war, armed conflict, nationalism, and regional peacebuilding mechanisms.

Research grants won:

  • ARUA-Carnegie-Mastercard Early Career Research Fellowship Award, May-October 2026
  • Atlas: Horn of Africa Short-term Postdoc mobility, 2024, IMAF, Paris, France
  • Researcher (2023-2026): Conflict and Politics in Ethiopia (with funding from IRD)
  • Researcher (2023): A human security approach to peace operations focusing on Somalia (with funding from FES)
  • Civil Society Scholars Award Recipient for 2021 Cohort
  • Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding Fellow, 2022

Recent Publications:

  • Yared Debebe and Tezera Tazebew (2025). Amhara: Emerging Nationalism and Insurgency.
  • In Yonas Tariku and Fana Gebrsenbet (Eds.), Ethiopia’s Insecurity Complex: Protest,Transition and War (2015-2023), Routledge.
  • Atrsaw Necho and Yared Debebe (2024). Understanding the Fano insurgency in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region, Briefing Paper, https://riftvalley.net/wpcontent/uploads/2024/02/Understanding-the-Fano-Insurgency_final.pdf
  • Kukkuk, L. and Yared Debebe (2024). A human security approach to peace support operations: Contextual and Theoretical Framework (Volume I), Research Report, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and IPSS, Addis Ababa
  • Kukkuk, L., Yared Debebe, Fahria Warsame Said and Hiwot Arkiso (2024). A human security approach for AU PSOs: Lessons from AMISOM (Volume II), Research Report, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and IPSS, Addis Ababa

Semir Yusuf (PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Semir Yusuf (PhD) has decades of experience in teaching and researching Political Science, International Relations, and Peace and Conflict Studies at several institutions including the University of Toronto and Addis Ababa University. He served in management and senior research positions at different African think tanks including the Institute for Security Studies and the Rift Valley Institute, where he was the Head of RVI’s Ethiopia Office. Semir has collaborated with various organizations, including the EU, USAID, NIMD and Berghof Foundation and has published extensively on topics such as conflict dynamics, constitutional design, identity politics and democratization. His regional expertise centers on the Horn of Africa, particularly Ethiopia. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and has received extensive training in peace and conflict studies in the US, India, and Ethiopia. 

Alemayehu Gurmu (PhD), Assistant Professor

Lead Researcher, IPSS

Alemayehu Gurmu (PhD) is an Assistant Professor and works as a Lead Researcher at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, AAU. In addition to that, he teaches MA and PhD students at the African Studies Program under Center for Archaeology and History under the Social Sciences and Humanities of AAU. He earned his PhD in 2017 from IPSS, AAU. His Dissertation was on ‘The Social Stratification of Ethnicity: A Study of the Transformation of Local Group Relations and Conflict Mediation in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia’. Alemayehu’s primary interest is on Traditional Conflict Justice, Culture and Conflict.

Research Grant’s won:

  • Principal Investigator (2025-2027)- Thematic Research program funded by AAU
  • Principal Investigator (2024) – ‘Kerta: A dispute resolution scheme among the Kistane of Central Ethiopia. An Adaptive Research grant from AAU

Publication:

  • Participated in the making of An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Law Terms done in collaboration with the Institute for Justice as a Panel Leader from 2021-2023. The Dictionary was published in 2025.
  • Kerta: A Dispute Resolution Scheme among the Kistane of Central Ethiopia, a paper submitted to the VPRTT (Vice-President for of Research and Technology Transfer office of AAU), 2024
  • Womanno: A Conflict Handling Mechanism among the Kistane of Central Ethiopia, a paper appeared in 21st IES conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2022.
  • Alemayehu Gurmu Bileat. Policy Brief: Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Africa through Peaceful Transition. Vol.16-6/ Sep. 2022
  •  Participated in the New Science and Technology Dictionary English-Amharic published by the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences. (2018 Eth. Cal).2025

Asebe Amenu Tufa (PhD)

Researcher, IPSS

Asebe Amenu Tufa (Ph.D.) is a researcher at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University. He earned his Ph.D. in 2018 in Sociology from Addis Ababa University. His research interest includes urban studies, conflict and displacement, peace building, migration, environment, gender, governance, and public health. He can be reached at: [email protected] or [email protected]

Recent publications:

  • Asebe Amenu Tufa, Oriangi George, & Davidson Alaci. (2025). The Dynamics of Post-conflict Reintegration: Experience from Gulu, Jigjiga and Jos Cities. Springer Nature, Urban Forum. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-025-09551-8.
  • Asebe Amenu Tufa, Mercy Fekadu Mulugeta, Fana Gebresenbet & Edegilign Hailu. (2025). Religious informality: Understanding religion in the urban public sphere in Addis Ababa. Sage Journals Urbanisation, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/24557471251393351.
  • Asebe Amenu Tufa. Internal Labor Migration Management in Jigjiga, Ethiopia. 2024. Policy Brief Paper, Center of Excellence in Post-Conflict Societies, Institute for Peace and Security Studs.
  • Asebe Amenu Tufa, Geremew Gonfa, Anene Tesfa, Theodros Getachew, Desalegn Bekele, Ftalew Dagnaw, Nehla Djellouli, Tim Colbourn, Tanya Marchant & Seblewengel Lemma. “We don’t trust all data coming from all facilities”: factors influencing the Quality of Care Network data quality in Ethiopia. Journal of Global Health Action, Vol 16, Issue 1, 2023; DOI:10.1080/16549716.2023.2279856.
  • Nehla Djellouli, Yusra Ribhi Shawar, Kasonde Mwaba, Kohenour Akter, Gloria Seruwagi, Asebe Amenu Tufa, Geremew Gonfa, Kondwani Mwandira, Agnes Kyamulabi, Jeremy Shiffman, Mike English, Tim Colbourn. Effectiveness of a multi-country implementation-focused network on quality of care: delivery of interventions and processes for improved maternal, newborn and child health outcomes. 2023. https://labs.sciety.org/articles/by?article_doi=10.1101/2023.03.03.23286747.
  • Fidele Kanyimbu Mukinda, Nehla Djellouli, Kohenour Akter, Mithun Sarker, Asebe Amenu Tufa, Kondwani Mwandira, Gloria Seruwagi, Agnes Kyamulabi, Kasonde Mwaba, Tanya Marchant, Yusra R. Shawar, Mike English, Hilda Namakula, Geremew Gonfa, Tim Colbourn, Mary V. Kinney. Individual and organisational interactions, learning and information sharing in a multi-country implementation-focused quality of care network for maternal, newborn and child health: a social network analysis. 2023. https://labs.sciety.org/articles/by?article_doi=10.1101/2023.03.09.23287066
  • Kondwani Mwandira, Seblewengel Lemma, Albert Dube, Kohenour Akter, Asebe Amenu Tufa, Agnes Kyamulabi, Gloria Seruwagi, Catherine Nakidde, Kasonde Mwaba, Nehla Djellouli, Charles Makwenda, Tim Colbourn, Yusra Ribhi Shawar. Do Global Networks facilitate innovation, learning and sharing? An evaluation of the Quality-of-Care Network (QCN) in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda. PLOS Global Public Health. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.05.23299487.
  • Asebe Amenu, Desalegn Wirtu, Mebrate Dufera, Oljira Kenea, Gemechu Tiruneh & Zelalem Desalegn. The Politics of COVID-19: A Qualitative Exploration of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Factors Influencing Prevention Practices in Selected Urban Areas of Wollega Zones, Western Ethiopia, Ethiopian Renaissance Journal of Social Science and Humanities, 2021.

Brice Kamguia (PhD)

ARUA Fellow
Dr. Brice Kamguia is an economist, researcher, and lecturer in the Department of Public Economics at the University of Yaoundé II–Soa, Cameroon. He is an Early Career Researcher (ECR) within the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University, where he engages in interdisciplinary research on governance, peace, security, and sustainable development in Africa. His research interests span development economics, energy economics, poverty and inequality, governance, and sustainable development, with growing research engagement in peace, security, and conflict in Africa,  examining the economic and institutional factors shaping conflict and resilience.

Dr. Kamguia has extensive experience in policy-oriented research and international development, including previous work with the World Bank Group and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). His research has been published in leading international journals, including Energy Policy, Ecological Economics, Energy Strategy Reviews, Journal of Development Studies, Climate Policy and Economics of Transition and Institutional Change etc.

Thomas Chukwuma Ijere (PhD)

ARUA Fellow

Dr. Thomas Chukwuma Ijere is a recipient of the ARUA-Carnegie-Mastercard Early Career Research Fellowship (2026). He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Political Communication from Northumbria University, United Kingdom. His research focuses on digital media and democracy in comparative perspectives. He is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calabar, Nigeria, and has held research and teaching positions at SOAS University of London, and the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), Germany. Dr. Ijere is committed to interdisciplinary and comparative scholarship, collaborative research and advancing understanding of the evolving relationship between digital media and democratic practice. 

 

Dr. Ishmael Adjei

ARUA Research Fellow

Dr. Ishmael Adjei is an ARUA/Carnegie-Mastercard Early-Career Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Post-Conflict Societies, Institute for Peace & Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations ( Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey), an M.Sc. in International Relations ( Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey), and a dual Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Political Science and Linguistics from University of Ghana, Legon-Accra. Dr Adjei is also an Erasmus Research Mobility and Institute of Economic Studies(IES), Europe’s scholar and has certificates in Human Rights Education, Security Analysis, and Migration Governance and Diaspora Engagement. He is also a Research Affiliate at the Center for Migration Studies (CMS), University of Ghana, and a Research Associate at the Center for Migration, Citizenship and Development (COMCAD), Bielefeld University, Germany. His research focuses on migration governance and policy, migration and health, climate-induced migration, refugees and internally displaced persons, urbanization, climate change and food security, conflict and international security, and international institutions. 

Selected recent publications:

Adjei, I & Aksoy, S., Z. ( 2026). Climate Migration as a Human Security Problem in Africa (pp.73-96). In: Climate Change and Migration: Global Challenges and Local Mitigation Strategies, Erol Esen,Cem Şentürk,Veli Çetintürk, (Eds.), Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., Berlin. https://doi.org/10.3726/b23370
Abille, A. B., & Adjei, I. (2025). Does Better Governance Abate the External Debt-Capital Flight Revolvement in Sub-Saharan Africa? Journal of Government and Economics [Elsevier Ltd]:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jge.2025.100136
Adjei, I. & Schraven, B., (2025) Climate Change, Hunger and Migration: A Vicious Circle in Africa? Welternährung: Global Food Journal. https://www.welthungerhilfe.org/global-food-journal/rubrics/climate-resources/climate-hunger-migration-a-vicious-circle-in-africa
Kaşıkçı, T., & Adjei, I. (2025). From Alignment to Ambiguity: The strategic puzzle of US–Egypt relations. In İ. A. Kadıoğlu (Ed.), Contemporary issues in the Middle East (pp. 162–177). Sakarya University Press. https://doi.org/10.59537/saupress.2483
Adjei, I., & Oyebamiji, O. A. (2024). Climate Change Impact on Migration and Food Security: An Existential Threat in Africa. International Journal of Earth Sciences Knowledge and Applications, 6(1), 90-106. https://izlik.org/JA32LT93RM
Adjei, I, (2018) ‘The Concept of Responsibility to Protect and the Libya Intervention’, International Journal of Science and Research, 7(9):188-193 https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/ART20191062