Impact case study database

Prof. Olonisakin’s cumulative body of research and engagement work has underpinned a wide variety of peacebuilding activities at the highest level. UN bodies, donors, governments, and influential fora have sought out her research, expertise and commitment to transformational leadership, making her a respected and influential agent of change. She was also ranked in the top 10 of the UK’s ‘Powerlist’ of the most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the UK in 2019 (and included in the 2020 and 2021 editions).

Her work has resulted in extensive and substantive impact in four main areas:

Shaping UN resolutions on the peacebuilding agenda

Through Prof. Olonisakin’s extensive engagement work, King’s research has become an integral part of UN discussions on peace and security in Africa. Consistently called upon to share research and evidence relating to women, youth, peace and security in a variety of UN settings, Prof. Olonisakin has created a clear network of influence and contributed to several UN Resolutions (the formal expressions of the opinion or will of the United Nations, providing guidance to member states and giving direction to all policy and practice related to these areas). This sustained engagement culminated in Prof. Olonisakin being appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon as one of seven experts on the UN Advisory Group of Experts on the Review of UN Peacebuilding Architecture (2015) and the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group of Experts for the UN Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security (2016) [A].

Most notably, Prof. Olonisakin’s extensive body of research has helped to shape the UN peacebuilding policy. The UN Charter has a vision of “sav[ing] succeeding generations from the scourge of war” [B p.7]. However, for many UN Member States and UN entities, peacebuilding has been an afterthought. The 2015 Review of UN Peacebuilding Architecture explored the challenge of sustaining peace, assessing both the evolving global context for peacebuilding and compiling an assessment of UN peacebuilding activities. As a member of the Advisory Group, Prof. Olonisakin included her extensive research knowledge of this area in the assessment. Based on detailed consideration of her proposal to move away from elite and imported peace, the recommendations from the 2015 Review stated that: “The UN, with its partners, should consider a new emphasis on building national leadership as an integral part of a reconciliation and nation-building agenda, working to shift the focus away from the personal ambitions of protagonists to engaging in a common vision for the country” [B p.56]. The final report includes the concepts of ‘leadership and broadening inclusion’ [B p.9] developed by King’s research [6] as a way to build coherence in the delivery of the ‘sustaining peace’ agenda, stating that leadership (at the national level) is something that must be based on a mutually held goal/ vision between elite and society rather than an inter-elite peace [B p.33]. Following this report, in 2016 a new UN Resolution (2282 [C]) was unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council, formally expressing the adjusted opinions of the UN, shifting the framing of leadership away from a focus on individuals towards understanding it as a process that must involve sectors of society.

In addition, Prof. Olonisakin presented her findings [1,2] at the Global Study to the Youth, Peace and Security, Advisory Group of Experts in Nairobi 2016, contributing towards the UN Progress Study on Youth, Peace and Security. This led to youth exclusion and vulnerability challenges being introduced into the study and Prof. Olonisakin’s work being referenced throughout the resulting Report [D], specifically calling attention to the violence of exclusion and the meaningful inclusion of youth. As a result, in 2018 UN Resolution 2419 [E] called on relevant actors to recognise youth marginalisation as being detrimental to building sustainable peace and to consider ways to increase the inclusive representation of youth in peacebuilding.

Shaping national level policy and youth programmes

As a result of work to shape international level UN policy, Prof. Olonisakin has been in demand to help develop the thinking and policy of a number of national governments. For example, she was invited to advise the Nigerian Vice-President at the 2017 National Economic Council Security Summit. He stated that Prof. Olonisakin’s research shaped discussions, clarifying root causes of conflict and possible solutions, and said “we have taken note of your various recommendations. We assure you that they will be useful in fine-tuning the various reforms of our security architecture” [F].

King’s research on youth peace-building [2] has also had a substantial impact on Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian Crown corporation that funds research in developing countries to advance knowledge and solutions for a more inclusive and sustainable world. As attested by the IDRC’s Regional Director [G], “King’s research has had a substantial impact on IDRC, informing and shaping our strategy and programming especially in relation to the importance of youth voices and perspectives in promoting inclusive development”. King’s research on youth economic vulnerability and exclusion [2] also informed an IDRC consultative workshop, engaging youth researchers to set a research agenda which subsequently funded an important cohort of youth-led projects across the continent. For example, in Zimbabwe over 300 youths were supported to foster peace through capacity-building and the creation of spaces that enable youth participation in civil and policy processes, and in South Africa over 200 young people formerly involved in gangs were supported to transition to different lifestyles [G].

Shaping conversations and driving action on security and peacebuilding in Africa

King’s research has had substantial impact on the development of fora which open new lines of conversation and shape action across a variety of security and peacebuilding issues in Africa. For example, the Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa is a network that brings together African heads of state, former heads of state, policy practitioners, academics and other stakeholders to engage and explore African-led security solutions. From its conception, King’s research has shaped the Forum’s core topics, particularly relating to the impact of conflict and state fragility on security and state-building. With Prof. Olonisakin appointed to its Board in 2013, King’s research into the critical role of leadership in peacebuilding [5,6] has led to the systematic integration of leadership analysis into the Forum. In particular, as a result of King’s research analysing dominant trends and the shifts needed to enable peacebuilding solutions, meetings now have a standing item of ‘The State of Peace and Security in Africa’. Furthermore, King’s work on youth, peace and security underpins the Forum’s inclusion of youth voices, where previously the next generation of African scholars and leaders were uncommon contributors to such high-level conversations. H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria and Chairperson of Tana Forum Board recognised this shift, stating that “without Prof. Olonisakin’s work we would not have been able to shape aspects of Tana Forum’s agenda in the ways that we did. We are extremely grateful to her for helping us to bring the best voices together to discuss the best topics in the right moments” [H].

Prof. Olonisakin is also co-chair of a partnership between Wilton Park (an executive agency of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office) and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Convening key actors who would not ordinarily be in the same room, this forum links policy and government decision-makers with academics, practitioners, activists, civil society, youth ambassadors and emerging African leaders. Resulting in greater inter-generational collaboration and learning, the first ‘Peacebuilding in Africa’ conference was held in 2015, with annual meetings occurring across Africa, UK, US and Canada. The Carnegie Corporation’s Peacebuilding in Africa Programme Officer highlights how King’s research has provided “foundational inputs” to developing this forum and has “remained central to the conference’s success and its intellectual and policy framing” [I]. For example, in 2015 King’s research resulted in the conference report’s recommendation that peacebuilding be redefined as an activity that encapsulates the whole cycle of conflict and that includes leadership building in ways that focus on mutually held goals between elite/ protagonists and the wider society to include marginalised constituencies, such as youth and women [J].

Transforming a new generation of African leaders

The King’s-based African Leadership Centre (ALC) has developed a model through which King’s knowledge and understanding around leadership [5,6] are brought to life. By seeking to build and empower a critical mass of young African leaders, the centre tackles the lack of representation of young, especially female Africans in positions of influence, taking a long-term approach to invest in a new generation. Attempting to disrupt participants’ worldviews, unpick hierarchy and leadership, and change perspectives, ALC courses prepare individuals to challenge accepted norms and take on positions of leadership, creating a new narrative about Africa.

The ALC provides a unique portfolio curriculum that has developed from the King’s research acknowledgement that leadership should be inclusive, process-based and inter-generational [5,6]. As identified by alumni, the ALC experience is ‘life-changing’, and provides an education that reaches beyond the classroom to help individuals forge life-long networks and support systems that are ‘invaluable’ ‘enriching’, ‘transformative’ and ‘redefining’ [K1]. In addition, an independent evaluation by the Carnegie Corporation (a repeated funder of the ALC) noted that the ALC has “had an excellent and unmatched track record of results” [L]. Since August 2013 the ALC has successfully mentored 57 young African leaders from 18 African countries, particularly women, who have gone on to successfully shape policy and practice in Africa. Taking up jobs as analysts, officials, educators and practitioners, all are forging knowledge production, policy and practice in African organisations, governments, NGOs and civil society. Examples include Ebenezer Ofosu Asiedu, who became Head of Mediation Facilitation Division, Economic Community of West African States Commission in 2016 and has proffered recommendations that have informed policy change which has resulted in several violent conflicts having been either prevented or their impacts mitigated [K2]. In addition, the Hon. Abratha P. Doe, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Liberia, 2014-17 represented Liberia at the 2014 African Union Arms Trade Treaty. Ms Doe stated that her ALC Fellowship provided her with “both the theoretical and practical knowledge that strategically positioned me to both win and successfully carry out my ministerial position” [K3].