Malaviya Centre for Peace Research
The ancient city of Varanasi has traditionally been a site of intercultural and interreligious dialogue and discourses peace. Continuing this tradition, the Banaras Hindu University has taken the lead in institutionalizing an interdisciplinary centre of peace research and conflict resolution. Deriving its name from the illustrious founder of the university, the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research (MCPR) was launched in 1998 under the VIII UGC Plan as the first centre of its kind in the Indian University system. In just over a decade, the MCPR has established itself globally as a hub of scholarly and practical activities concerning varied dimensions of conflict analysis and sustainable peace. The granting of UNESCO Chair for Peace has been worthy recognition of the continuing peace work at MCPR.
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UNESCO Chair for Peace and Intercultural Understanding
UNESCO Chair for Peace and Intercultural Understanding was  formally established in December 2010 at the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University with the following mandate.
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  • Explore and highlight the potentials of cultural and, in particular religious diversity as a resource for peace rather than a barrier;
  • Create a critical mass of trained and sensitized peace workers in this particular field;
  • Create an integrated regional hub for research, training, information and documentation in the fields of peace, human rights, conflicts resolution and human development sensitive to the issues of structural and cultural diversity;
  • Develop a curriculum for Asian and African Universities focusing particularly on the cultural and religious dimension;
  • Promote the preservation of public spaces of communally inclusive heritage and cultural practices in India and elsewhere, and sensitize media and civil society about the common grounds between diverse cultures; and peace building.

Prof. Priyankar Upadhyaya
​UNESCO Chair Professor & Coordiantor
Email: [email protected]
​[email protected]
Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya serves as the UNESCO Chair Professor for Peace and Intercultural Understanding at the Banaras Hindu University where he has taught international relations and peace studies for over three decades and supervised over 25 doctoral and postdoctoral researches. He has done post-doctoral studies at London University and holds a Ph.D. and M. Phil. Degree of Jawaharlal Nehru University and an Advance International Diploma in Conflict Resolution from the Uppsala University.
Recipient of many prestigious awards/fellowships including   the Guest Scholar Award of Woodrow Wilson Centre of International Scholars, Faculty Research Award, Canadian Government, Senior Fulbright Award and Australia-India Council Senior Fellowship; Professor Upadhyaya has served globally as Visiting Professor/ Senior Fellow at Henry L Stimson Center (Wash DC), Peace Research Institute (PRIO), Oslo, UN University of Peace and US Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs and at Dublin City University. Professor Upadhyaya has publications in journals and books from OUP, MUP, CUP, Sage, Ashgate and Routledge. Prof. Upadhyaya has made a foundational contribution to the growth of peace and conflict resolution studies in India. His recent volume on “Peace and Conflict: South Asian Experience” (Cambridge University Press) has been widely acclaimed. Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya is also serving as a member of the Steering Committee in the UNESCO led project entitled: “Progress and Challenges for the Peace Agenda of United Nations”