In recognition of South Africa’s role as co-facilitator in the review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and ACCORD will be jointly hosting an Africa-wide Dialogue to review the progress of the PBC since its establishment in 2005.
The ACCORD Peacebuilding Unit’s African Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP) recently organized and conducted a Peacebuilding Workshop in collaboration with the Liberia Peacebuilding Office under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Liberia. The activity took place from 1-5 March 2010 and brought together a cross section of 26 participants from key regions in Liberia.
Staff from ACCORD’s Peacemaking and Peacebuilding Units travelled to Khartoum, Sudan, for a consultative field mission from 13 - 18 February 2010. The ACCORD team met and engaged with important stakeholders in the peacemaking and peacebuilding processes in Sudan.
The African Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP) hosted a two-week Joint Peacebuilding Training and Study Tour in South Africa from 19 – 30 October 2009. The 18 participants who attended the training were high-level government and civil society representatives from the four focus countries of the Programme (Burundi, DRC, Liberia and Sudan), as well as Mr Moshood Olatokunbo, the African Union Expert on Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Reconstruction.
The Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia and ACCORD, with sponsorship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, in collaboration with the Angie Brooks International Centre, are hosting a one week Civilian Peacebuilding/Bridge Builders Training Course in Monrovia from 10-14 August 2009.
The Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, attended the second annual general meeting of AfAP, from 20-21 November 2008, in Nairobi, Kenya. AfAP which is a tripartite partnership agreement between ACCORD, the Nairobi Peace Initiative-Africa (NPI-Africa) and the West Africa Network for Peace-building (WANEP). The aim of the partnership is to share experiences and lessons learnt in the field of peacebuilding.
National Peace Support Operations Officers of the Malawi Armed Forces listen attentively to an ACCORD presentation on Negotiation and Mediation during a ten-day pre-deployment training programme in Salima, Malawi.
On 19 November 2009 the Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, along with the General Manager of Corporate Affairs, Hayden Allen and the Co-ordinator of ACCORD’s African Peace building Coordination Programme (APCP), Walter Lotze, met with Mr. Conmany Wesseh, the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia (now Ambassador Designate to Belgium/the Benelux countries and the European Union), along with Mr. Dusty Wolokolie, MP, from the Pan African Parliament (and Chairman of the House Standing Committee on Good Governance and Governance Reform in Liberia).
Due to the relevance and success of the first TfP/ACCORD Conflict Management for Peacekeepers and Peacebuilders Course for the African Union - United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), held from 3 -5 June 2009, the Chief of the UNAMID Civil Affairs Division requested a second training course for the new intake of Civil Affairs Officers. The Programme thus conducted a second in-mission Conflict Management course for UNAMID Civil Affairs Officers, most of whom fall within the ‘National Professional Officers’ category, from 12-14 August 2009 in Kampala Uganda.
In its efforts to support the Peacebuilding work in Africa, The Peacebuilding Unit at ACCORD conducted a Peacebuilding Training in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 30 March to 03 April 2009. The training, held in the capital city of Kinshasa, brought together 30 stakeholders from the United Nations Mission and the United Nations Country Teams.
The African Peacebuilding Coordination Programme at ACCORD hosted a Consultative Workshop in Kampala, Uganda, bringing together stakeholders to the peacebuilding process in Sudan from 20-21 November 2008.
