Seth Karamage is a development economist specializing in peacebuilding and good governance. Seth has been working with the University of Massachusetts (UMass Boston) under the auspices of Center for Peace Democracy and development (CPDD), for11 years managing its peacebuilding and governance projects in Nigeria and Rwanda respectively. Before joining the development work, Seth served in Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) for 12 years where he draws the passion and expertise of incorporating Civil-Military relations and Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) activities in peacebuilding and good governance programs. With respect to civil-military relations strengthening, he championed the 2012 JRP where he first facilitated the introduction and connection between the Institution for Global Leadership (IGL) at Tufts University with Rwandan embassy in the US for promoting the ALLIES programs in Rwanda.
Currently, Seth is the UMass Boston’s Resident Country Director for the Strengthening of Rwandan Administrative Justice (SRAJ) project.
In Nigeria, he implemented a 5year project tagged as TOLERANCE (Training of Leaders on Religious and National Co-existence), which promoted peace and reconciliation among religious leaders and their constituencies in northern and southeastern Nigerian states.
Seth has also been working with Karuna Center for Peacebuilding in Rwanda and Nigeria teaching and establishing community based dialogues that intend to strengthen civilian security and reconciliation in divided communities.
In addition to the international peace and governance work, Seth founded and owns Rural Economic Development and Management (REDEM) Company which aims at improving rural farmers’ social and economic livelihoods through teaching them modern agriculture hence strengthening sustainable peace and development in Rwanda.
Seth is a Rwanda and he is a graduate of Brandeis University in USA with a MA in Co-existence and conflict. Prior to Brandeis, he went to National University Rwanda where he attained a BSc in Economics.