Ateneans – peacebuilders, development workers, and global citizens

Twenty-nine scholars of the Asian Peacebuilders Scholarship (APS) Programme at Ateneo de Manila University’s School of Social Sciences are nearing the completion of a 21-month graduate study and are set to earn dual-degree master's in December 2023.

The APS is a collaboration between Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines), the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (Costa Rica), and the Nippon Foundation (Japan). Members of the sixteenth cohort of the APS visited their various embassies to pay courtesy calls to their ambassadors between 13 to 17 November 2023. The visits were an opportunity for APS scholars to share their experiences in transnational education and career aspirations as well as details on the capstone projects that they conducted in various parts of Asia. 

The diplomatic envoys extended their commendations to the students for their hard work and persistence. They wish the APS scholars well as they embark on building their careers in international cooperation, peacebuilding, and development. 

The APS Programme trains young Asian professionals to become peacebuilding practitioners and development workers ready to take up leading positions in organizations across the globe. The APS scholars undergo intensive, specialized language training, academic study in the Philippines and Costa Rica, as well as the hands-on design and implementation of field projects in their chosen sites. They obtain a Master of Arts in an area related to peacebuilding from the University for Peace and a Master’s Degree in Transdisciplinary Social Development from Ateneo de Manila’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Since its establishment in 2007, the APS Programme has nurtured over 450 professionals, peacebuilders, and development workers. The APS Programme will have its closing events on 13 to 15 December 2023 to be held at Ateneo de Manila University.