**Trustees** ## **ANNUAL REPORT** _**2024-2025**_ **Accounting period: 01/09/2024 to 31/08/2025** Submitted to: **OSCR** Submitted by **The Edinburgh Peace Institute** 5 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH24AN ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## TABLE OF CONTENTS Operational Trustees & Voluntary 3 Overview 4 Advisors 5 Charity Data (1.2.3.) 6 Operations &Services (4) 7 Regional InternationalEngagements 8 Impact Financials & Appendix 3: 9 Accounts 10 Accounts 11 Appendix 3: ExternalScrutiny Report on 12 Accounts Directors Statement & Signature www.edinburghpeaceinstitute.org **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE** Charities/NGOs/INGOs operating in the peace and conflict sector face a highly volatile and severe landscape. The geopolitical environment is defined by entrenched, long-lasting conflicts (such as those in Ukraine, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, [Gaza and West Bank], Sudan, and Myanmar) that feature a profound and flagrant disregard for International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Civilians are increasingly bearing the brunt of modern warfare, which is characterized by the urbanisation of conflict, the rise of autonomous and drone warfare, and widespread attacks on civilian infrastructure. Concurrently, the sector is grappling with a profound institutional and financial crisis; humanitarian and peacebuilding funding fell by roughly 25% over the past year, as global military spending reached record highs. ## **Key Difficulties in Developing Peace Initiatives** Developing and executing peace initiatives to advocate for “unarmed civilians needs” the foundation of our work, has become exceptionally perilous and complex due to several compounding factors: - **Normalisation of Impunity:** There is a near-total collapse of accountability for state and non-state actors who violate human needs and human rights. When international norms and UN Security Council mechanisms are consistently blocked or ignored by major powers, NGOs/INGOs lose the legal and diplomatic leverage required to broker local ceasefires, and/or establish humanitarian corridors. As a result, peace researchers, find it incredibly difficult to access and analyse a conflictsocieties human needs, and to advocate for these at higher levels. - **The "Securitisation" of Aid, and Instrumentalisation:** Host governments and warring factions increasingly view peacebuilding and civilian needs advocacy through a hyper-securitised lens. neutral NGOs/INGOs are often accused of espionage or political interference, resulting in restrictive "foreign agent" laws, bureaucratic gatekeeping, and the denial of humanitarian access. **YEAR MARKET SIZE (USD BILLION) GROWTH RATE** - **Physical Peril and Targeted Attacks:** The peacemaking and humanitarian space has shrunk physically. Aid workers and peace advocates are no longer viewed as neutral, protected entities; instead, they face a record number of deadly, targeted attacks, making sustained community-level peace work highly dangerous. - **The Funding Chasm and Short-Termism:** Peacebuilding requires long-term, flexible funding to foster trust and dialogue. However, due to severe budget cuts, the remaining capital is heavily earmarked for short-term, reactive emergency relief (food, water, shelter) rather than proactive, preventative peace initiatives, to maintain human needs, and prevent backsliding. **Asymmetric and Fragmented Networks:** Modern conflicts heavily feature fragmented, non-state armed groups, criminal gangs, and proxy militias. Identifying legitimate interlocutors for peace dialogue is incredibly difficult, as these groups often lack a centralized command structure or any baseline allegiance to international legal frameworks. Given these constraints, Charities/NGOs/INGOs are forced to pivot toward hyper-localized, civilsociety-led protection frameworks, attempting to mitigate civilian harm at the grassroots level while the broader multilateral peace architecture undergoes a painful reconfiguration, all while failing to protect the peace of unarmed civilians in conflict spaces. ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **TRUSTEES & VOLUNTARY ADVISORS** **The growing team at The Edinburgh Peace Institute, are all voluntary actors, we give our time and academic experience to develop the charity, and its purposes, to include: training, policy research, advocacy, and mediation engagement, with no economic benefit. We are aware that as EPI develops its discussions, advocacy, and projects, many of these important initiatives, require donor funding to scale these interventions for the public benefit of others.** **To support EPI initiatives, email: info@edinburghpeaceinstitute.org** ## **DIRECTOR:** DR WILLIAM W THOMSON **TRUSTEE** **SECRETARY:** DR SARAH MARSDEN **TRUSTEE** **TREASURER** MR EDWARD IVES **TRUSTEE** **INT’ ADVISOR** DR JEREMY KLEIDOTSKY **AFRICA PROGRAMME LEAD** DR DOYINSOLA AGUNBIADE **EPI INT’ VOLUNTEERS** +10 ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **CHARITY DATA & PURPOSES** ## ~~**CHARITY DATA**~~ ## 1. **Reference and** ## **Administration Details** - **Charity Name:** The Edinburgh Peace Institute (EPI) - Registered Charity Number: SC051939 - **Principal Address:** 5 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH24AN ## 2. **S tructure, Governance, and** ## **Management** - The charity is controlled by its Constitution and operates as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). - Governing document to be reviewed in 2026-2027 reporting period. ## 3. **Charitable Purpose** - T he advancement of peace education. - The advancement of human rights, *** conflict resolution, or reconciliation. The promotion of (research) towards building religious or racial harmony. - The advocacy and promotion of peace, and where it directly impacts human needs. ## **NOTE***** EPI is not a legal organisation, pursuing “human rights” issues. Our analysis and advocacy discuss human needs more broadly in contention with conflict. There is however, a developing research agenda, in the sector, on the relationship between human rights and peace. **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **OPERATIONS & SERVICES** The Edinburgh Peace Institute, has developed a methodology of intervention for the peace and conflict sector, that combines an overlapping system of research informed praxis. ## 4. What the charity is set up to do and how it does this: ## **ADVOCACY & MEDIATION SERVICES** **Voluntary Advocacy & Mediation:** EPI advocacy and mediation offering, for human needs and other conflict issues affecting conflict-societies, is derived from research data and empirical evidence. We share policy information, and as a secondary development we advocate and discuss how these research and policy findings can be mediated towards resolution. The engagement develops as an organic trust-building engagement with civil society actors, NGOs, and Political actors. ## **RESEARCH & POLICY DEVELOPMENT** **Research & Policy Research:** EPI has sought funding through various channels for research funding, to assist projects. EPI has developed its research base by offering placements for Post Doc PhD’s, providing a space for these researchers to develop their ongoing work. Our research activities inform our training development needs, and training courses, to enagage in research led training. More importantly, our policy research develoments are gaining momentum in the Middle East and Africa. ## **TRAINING & CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT** **Training & Educational Outreach:** Developments in this area are situated in developing CPD Continuing Professional Development courses for civil society in conflict, humanitarian agencies, diplomats and ministers of countries seeking to understand conflict intervention, human needs mediation, and peace-making. New courses are in development for 2026/27 to offer mediation training for communities in Nigeria, as part of a wider project, to build community relations and deescalate ‘internally displaced persons, (IDPs) conflict. ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **PRIMARY REGIONAL ENGAGEMENTS** Details of regional engagements currently established with research volunteers at EPI: ## **ISRAEL & PALESTINE** EPI has innitiated its NGO application for the territories of Israel and Palestine. Currently, our Palestine NGO application is completed, it has been legally notarised, and, endorsed by the Palestinian Mission UK, including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Our final status, is to submit the application to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. We await a credible window of intervention, to complete the final stage. EPI, will then commit to finalising our Israel NGO status, to assist the needs of both Israeli and Palestinian, on a path to peace. ## **NIGERIA** Conflict and environmental crises in the north of Nigeria, has impacted the displacement families in the region, many are fleeing south, creating further turmoil, as communities attempt to facilitate the movement of mass flows of people. One area we are developing examines the impact of “herder” and “pastoralist” communities, and the conflicts that arise, when they meet. Our conflict prevention measures in this area extend to developing research, and mediation practices, to be delivered as a training package to inform communities of routes to deescalation. ## **CÔTE D'IVOIRE** EPI research in this area, extends to examine the relational aspect of political “speech acts”, and how these are perceived in local communities. There is an argument that the political sphere, can jepeordise a fragile peace situation, by imflaming rhetoric, that pits one group against the other, developing a dichotomy of division and otherness, within a democratic system. Democratic peace processes, are key to inclusion, where all have a human right to identity, political actualisation, and expression. This policy research develops peace education engagement, to develop communities critical awareness of speech acts, and how to interpret divisive political language. ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **PRIMARY IMPACTS** Outlined are three primary public benefit impacts, among many over the year, that speak to the development of this charity, as it strives to benefit those in need, in public spaces, particularly, where the atrocity of violence, has oppressed the needs of societies caught in conflict. ## **PHD RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT** EPI has initiated a specific area of need for early career researchers. Particularly, for those researchers who have obtained a PhD in peace and conflict studies, but have yet to find suitable academic employment. EPI, provides a professional space for these Post-Doctoral candidates, to continue the pursuit of their chosen research areas, while supporting the work and development of EPI, for the benefit of others, in conflict spaces. ## **LEADERSHIP & POLICY TRAINING** As a defined research institute, EPI, can offer researchers, the opportunity to reach out to external organisations for support, collaboration, and training, to develop cocollaboration and leadership in the field of policy and research. One such example, is where EPI staff were accepted, after a lengthy application process, onto the British Academy’s (BA) Leadership Programme for Early Career Researchers. (Applied 24/25, engaged the BA programme 25/26). ## **IMPACT: BUILDING HOPE** Our daily and monthly communications with researchers, humanitarians, and civil society actors working in some of the most extreme places of human suffering and oppression, is probably the most important impact of all our work at EPI. It is not measured in monetary or economic currency or value, rather, it is measured in human kindness, a leadership of concern, and the ability to listen. EPI discuss potential projects, and needs engagements to assist those who suffer. People say one thing, continually, that our conversations offer hope. Outreach and communication are the building blocks and starting point of our interventions, and building hope, is in many cases the most profound impact we can measure, in our daily endeavours, as we witness through narratives, the human cost of war. ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS** The Edinburgh Peace Institute, has been developed over the past two years with no external funding source from donors. The charity has been led by the Trustees, and research volunteers as a pro-bpno initiative. The EPI team are aware that larger programme initiatives will require external donor funding, However, the team are also aware that the Edinburgh Peace Institute is serving as a platform to attract research volunteers, to benefit public good in conflict spaces. During the financial accounting period of 2024-2025, the Edinburgh Peace Institute did not trade in monetary engagement. No funds were received during the accounting period of 2024-2025. The pro-bono development of the charity, and growing engagements, are now being designed to apply for funding to realise projects on the ground. |**DONOR INFORMATION**|**DONATION**|**PROJECT**
**FUNDING**|**YEAR**| |---|---|---|---| |STAFFORD TRUST - SC018079|£3000.00|0.0000|2025-2026| ## **NOTE***** EPI submitted an application for funding to the Stafford Trust, (SC018079) during this accounting period, 2024-2025. Although successful, in our application, the donated funds did not arrive into our account until the start of the financial year covering, 2025-2026, and will show in this latter accounting period. EPI have earmarked this funding to assist with our ongoing peace development initiatives, and we will provide a breakdown of costs in the next financial accounting year 2025-2026. ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **APPENDIX 3** **Independent accounts examiner report:** ## **APPENDIX 3** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Independent examiner’s report on the accounts V2
Report to the Charity name
trustees/members of The Edinburgh Peace Institute
Registered charity SC 051939
number
On the accounts of the Periodstart date Periodend date
charity for the period Day Month Year Day Month Year
01 09 2024 to 31 08 2025
Set out on pages (remember to include the pagenumbers of additional sheets)
Respective The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance
responsibilities of with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) 2005 Act and the
trustees and examiner Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees
consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations
does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section
44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent
examiner’s statement My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts
Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the
charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes
consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeks
explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken
do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently, I do
not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner’s In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention [other than that
statement disclosed on the attached page*]
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the
requirements:
• to keep accounting records in accordance with section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and
Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with
Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations
have not been met, or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper
understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed**: K.Vn. Date: 21/07/2026
Name: K. Vn.
Relevant professional Accounting/Bookkeeper
qualification(s) or body
(if any):
Address:
Scotland
**----- End of picture text -----**
*Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. If the words do apply, set out those matters which have come to your attention on the following page. - **OSCR will accept digital or typed signatures. ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** **Continued... APPENDIX 3 Independent accounts examiner report:** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Disclosure section
**----- End of picture text -----**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems. **Give here brief details of** Report to the trustees of The Edinburgh Peace Institute (SC051939) on the **any items that the** accounts for the period 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025. **examiner wishes to disclose** As the charity’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. I, (K. V.) hereby act to provide an Independent Examiners Report stating that The Edinburgh Peace Institute did not trade financially or that any financial transactions took place in it’s third year as a charity, and that no items of concern have arisen. The reason for non trading is due to setting up a lengthy process to register as an NGO in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, with changing dynamics and shifting registration formalities. It is hoped that NGO registration will be completed in 2026, and will open up the international donor funding space for EPI to assist human needs and peace objectives as advocacy. 21/07/2026 K. Vn. Accounting/Bookkeeper Scotland Visit Our Website **WWW.EDINBURGHPEACEINSTITUTE.ORG** Our Email **INFO@EDINBURGHPEACEINSTITUTE.ORG** ## **THE EDINBURGH PEACE INSTITUTE** ## **DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT** As Director of The Edinburgh Peace Institute (EPI), I confirm that the information provided within this Trustees' Annual Report for the period ending 31st August 2025 is an accurate representation of the charity’s operations, activities, and financial standing. Throughout this reporting period, the Institute has operated on a voluntary, pro-bono basis. Despite operating within an increasingly volatile global landscape marked by widespread conflict and restricted funding for peacebuilding, our dedicated team of trustees, advisors, and post-doctoral research volunteers has remained steadfast in serving the public benefit of others. We have continued to lay vital groundwork through research-informed advocacy, CPD training development, and civil society engagement across volatile regions. Although EPI did not engage in active monetary trading during the 2024– 2025 financial period, we have successfully secured initial funding for the forthcoming cycle and remain focused on scaling our capacity, maintaining strict neutrality, and upholding rigorous safeguarding protocols in all future endeavors. On behalf of the Trustees, I extend our gratitude to our research volunteers, regional partners, and early supporters who continue to help us build hope and advocate for human needs in spaces affected by violent conflict. ## Charity Vision for 2025–2026 Looking ahead to the next operational year, the Edinburgh Peace Institute will transition from foundational structure and pro-bono policy research into active, project-funded international interventions. The vision for the upcoming year focuses on four strategic pillars: - Finalising Regional NGO Registrations: EPI aims to complete the final submission phase with the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah for its NGO status, followed by finalizing NGO registration in Israel. This legal foundation will allow EPI to access international donor funding and deliver direct advocacy and human-needs mediation for both Israeli and Palestinian communities. Expanding Training & Capacity Development in Africa: Building on research into forced displacement, herder-pastoralist friction, and political rhetoric, EPI plans to roll out specialised Continuing Professional Development (CPD) mediation packages. This includes community deescalation training for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and peace education around political "speech acts" in Côte d'Ivoire. - Deploying Initial Grant Funding: With project funding secured from the Stafford Trust for the 2025–2026 period, EPI will carefully deploy these financial resources while upholding strict neutral-capacity and safeguarding frameworks. - Nurturing Academic & Policy Leadership: EPI will continue its commitment to early-career researchers by offering Post-Doc PhD placements. The leadership team will also leverage engagements like the British Academy’s Leadership Programme (2025/2026) to expand cocollaboration with global research networks and humanitarian bodies. **Signed: Dr. William W. Thomson Director, The Edinburgh Peace Institute Date: 21/07/2026.** Visit Our Website **WWW.EDINBURGHPEACEINSTITUTE.ORG** Our Email **INFO@EDINBURGHPEACEINSTITUTE.ORG** 2024-2025 Annual Report & Accounts **OSCR** Submitted by **The Edinburgh Peace Institute**