Dialogue Africa is a non-for-profit organization established as a follow-up
initiative to the ISFiT Dialogue Groups 2007. In February 2007, twenty
students from Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Sudan, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and
Uganda met in Norway for a twenty days conflict resolution seminar. A direct
result of the work in February 2007 is the Dialogue Africa organization. We
cooperate with dedicated students and young people across the African
continent and facilitate conflict resolution seminars by promoting dialogue.
Currently Dialogue Africa has partners in the Sudan, Ethiopia, South Africa,
Uganda, Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda. Dialogue Africa assists our partners
with fundraising, thematic assistance and administrative support. For more
information about our work, please contact our project coordinator Mr Eivind
Fjeldstad (currently in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia) by email:
eivindfj@gmail.com– or mobile: +251 913 904 945

What is ISFiT?

ISFiT - The International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway is the world’s largest student festival with a thematic focus. About 450 students from all over the world attend the festival. The themes have changed over the years, but have always been related to social and political topics with international relevance.

World figures often attend ISFiT and past speakers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, former Director-General of WHO Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland and Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Dr José Ramos-Horta and Professor Wangari Maathai. Using modern technology, both former US president Bill Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Desmond Tutu have relayed their thoughts about the global significance of ISFiT to plenum ceremonies at the festival.

As students are the future leaders of the world we believe that their voices should be heard and international networks established. Thus the purpose of ISFiT is to be a meeting place for discussion and debate, an arena where ideas are born, friendships are made, and valuable lessons are learned. The festival aims at fostering inspiration and being a starting point for international cooperation amongst students. ISFiT is a non-profit festival.

The ISFiT participants take part in different workshops, which highlight the festival theme in various ways. Several lectures and thematic meetings will be arranged, where well-known international speakers share their views with the participants and others. The ISFiT audience is also welcome to join a vast cultural programme of concerts, art exhibitions and performing arts.

In order to organize ISFiT, more than 350 students in Trondheim work voluntarily, making sure every detail goes as planned. ISFiT has been arranged in Trondheim, Norway every second year since 1990.

The next ISFiT will be arranged from 20 February to 1 March 2009. The main topic this time is peacebuilding

ISFiT Dialogue Groups

«If Arafat and Netanyahu had participated in the Dialogue Groups it would not have been a conflict in the Middle East anymore» (Israeli participant, 1997)



The ISFiT Dialogue Groups is an initiative by the International Student Festival in Trondheim (ISFiT) to peace building in practice. The ISFiT Dialog Groups invites students from different sides of conflicts to meet on neutral grounds for sharing of experiences and dialogue. Through dialogue, communications exercises, role-play and social activities the participants and the facilitators explore the consequences of the conflict and the opportunities for the future. 

The ISFiT Dialogue Groups were first established in 1997. Since then the Dialogue Groups have gathered students from the conflict areas of South Africa, Northern Ireland, Guatemala, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Kashmir, Israel/Palestine, Sri Lanka, Balkan, USA/Iran, Russia/Chechnya, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Sudan and Great Lakes-region (Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda). This year students from Jerusalem, Georgia/Abkhazia and Cyprus have been invited.

The Student Peace Prize

Through the Students Peace Prize, students in Norway want to focus on those students and student organizations throughout the world that bravely fight suppressing and non-democratic governments. They are doing an important, but often dangerous effort. The Student Peace Prize seeks to acknowledge these efforts done by students in struggle.

Students in Norway are fortunate to have the opportunity to get education, and to have student democracy. Therefore, we want to give support and encouragement to those students who have to fight for their rights and who are willing to risk their lives to give other students a better future.

Thorvald Stoltenberg, President of the Norwegian Red Cross, and member of the Student Peace Prize committee in 2003 said, when awarding the Student Peace Prize: “This is an award to students who work for freedom and democracy everywhere.

The Student Peace Prize is awarded by the Student Peace Prize Committee on behalf of students in Norway.