Academic Research

Mercy Fekadu (PhD), Associate Professor

Mercy Fekadu (PhD), Associate Professor

Director, Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Director ARUA

Dr. Tilahun Bejitual

Dr. Tilahun Bejitual

Lead Researcher

Dr. Brice Kamguia

Dr. Brice Kamguia

Research Fellow

Dr. Alemayehu Gurmu

Dr. Alemayehu Gurmu

Lead Researcher

Asebe Amenu (PhD)

Asebe Amenu (PhD)

Researcher

 

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.

 

Dr. Brice Kamguia

Research Fellow

 

 

 

 

Dr. Brice Kamguia is a development economist with over five years of experience in environmental and energy economics, public economics, and applied policy analysis in developing countries. His research focuses on the intersections between energy systems, institutional quality, and economic development, with additional interests in political instability, international sanctions, and women’s political empowerment.

He is currently a Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, where his work examines how access to justice conditions the effectiveness of energy aid in promoting sustainable industrialization in Africa. He also serves as a Lecturer in Public Economics at the University of Yaoundé II. Dr. Brice has previously worked with leading international institutions, including the World Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and the African Population and Health Research Center. His research has been published in internationally recognized journals such as Ecological Economics, Energy Policy, International Economics, and Economics of Transition and Institutional Change etc.

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 (Ph.D.)

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.