In recognition of the support ACCORD has been giving to the African Union (AU) in the development of the Civilian Dimension of the African Standby Force (ASF), ACCORD was invited to participate in an AU Training Implementation Workshop that was held in Addis Ababa from 29-31 October.
On 28 October ACCORD hosted more than 30 international delegates at the future site of the Africa Peace Centre. The delegates were in Durban to attend the South African International Trade & Investment Conference, and included representatives from Portugal, Switzerland and the USA.
ACCORD has been invited to participate in an African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA) Training Implementation Workshop that will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 29-31 October. The purpose of the workshop will be to finalize an Interim Training Plan as well as to source funds for the core African Standby Force (ASF) training activities leading to the operationalization of the ASF in 2010.
Pravina Makan-Lakha, General Manager: Operations at ACCORD, has been nominated to participate at the Vital Voices Trans Regional Exchange: Women Leaders building Peace and Prosperity meeting taking place in Northern Ireland.
On 2 October 2007, the Coordinator of the ACCORD Rumonge office in Burundi, Marie Joseph Gatoto, was interviewed by a local radio station in Burundi, Studio Ijambo.
ACCORD’s Training for Peace (TfP) Programme will host a Civilian Protection in Peace Operations Curriculum Development Workshop (CDW) in Durban, South Africa, from 8-9 October 2007. This workshop is the first in a series of activities to develop a Protection of Civilians in Peace Operations handbook.
The International Steering Group and Executive Committee of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) held meetings in Soesterberg, the Netherlands, from 6-13 October 2007. The meeting brought together the fifteen Regional Secretariats.
The Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the Training for Peace (TfP) Programme will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Wednesday 24 October. The AGM will be hosted by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) which has invited directors and one programme officer from each of the partner institutions to attend.
As part of the partnership arrangement between ACCORD and the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden, ACCORD is participating in Uppsala’s high-level programme on Conflict Resolution and Challenges to Successful Peace Building in Africa (Top Level Seminar on Peace and Security - TOPS).
The Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, was invited to be a resource person at a “Security Sector Reform (SSR) and Governance” meeting between Sweden and South Africa. The meeting which was hosted by the Swedish National Defence College (SNDC) and the Folke Bernadotte Academy in Västerhaninge, Sweden, from 1-2 October.
On International Peace Day, 21 September 2007, ACCORD, in collaboration with Unischool Durban (which provides short training in computer and business skills) contributed some of its surplus IT equipment to the Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre based in Kwa-Mashu, Durban. Unischool agreed to contribute free computer training.
