ACCORD has been recognized as the 5th most influential Think Tank in Sub-Saharan Africa and amongst the top 75 worldwide in an influential annual survey.

ACCORD presented the preliminary findings of research on climate related conflicts in Sudan to a conference on environmental change and migration. The conference shed light on the complex dynamics of environmentally induced migration and the related impact on communities.

As part of efforts to strengthen the mediation support capacity of the African Union (AU), the ACCORD Peacemaking Unit conducted Advanced Training in Mediation for AU staff from 24-26 November 2010 in Durban, South Africa. Participants represented the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, as well as a variety of liaison offices including those in Western Sahara, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Chad, Kenya and the Ivory Coast.

Nikiwe Bikitsha, who was at the ACCORD 1325 seminar in Durban, reports in the Mail & Guardian on the state of women and Resolution 1325 on the continent of Africa...

Tor Sellström, a former Senior Advisor at ACCORD, has been awarded an honorary doctorate in Peace and Conflict Research by the University of Uppsala, Sweden.

The Training for Peace (TfP) Programme at ACCORD was recently invited by the British Peace Support Team (BPST) to deliver training modules for a Peace Support Operations Staff Officer’s course at the Malawian Armed Forces College (MAFCO). The two-week integrated (Civilian, Police, and Military personnel) Staff Officer’s course was for Officers that will be deployed to African Union (AU) or United Nations (UN) Peace Support Operations (PSO) on the continent.

The Training for Peace (TfP) Programme at ACCORD, in partnership with the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN), held a consultation on the Review of Civilian Capacities for Peace Operations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 08 December 2010.

The United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council simultaneously adopted Resolution 1947 on the “Review of the Peacebuilding Architecture” on 29 October 2010.

The Resolutions call on “all relevant UN actors to take forward, within their mandates and as appropriate, the recommendations of the report with the main aim of further improving the effectiveness of the Peacebuilding Commission” and also “recognizes that the peacebuilding work of the United Nations requires sustained and adequate resources to meet the challenges”.

ACCORD recently joined the United Nations (UN) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on women in peace and security. The event provided an opportune moment for the promotion of the Durban Statement arising from the High Level Seminar on ‘UNSCR 1325 in 2020: Looking Forward…Looking Back’ hosted by ACCORD from 8-9 October 2010.

The success of peacebuilding in many countries is largely dependent on regional peace and stability. In collaboration with the Nairobi Peace Initiative-Africa (NPI) and the West African Network for Peace (WANEP), ACCORD will conduct a high-level, regional peacebuilding workshop from 27-29 October 2010 in Monrovia, Liberia. The workshop will bring together key stakeholders from the countries of Guinea-Conakry, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone to create a clearer understanding of regional dynamics in the Mano River Region.