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On 10 February 2013 I travelled to Nairobi, Kenya with my counterparts, the executive directors of the Nairobi Peace Initiative – Africa, the West African Network of Peace and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict. Our two-day mission was designed to support civil society's call for a violence-free election and post- election environment... |
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As we end this year and ACCORD celebrates its twentieth anniversary, I am sadly reminded of the many lost opportunities we have had over the years to get parties to negotiate early so that lives could be saved and other human injustices averted... The Syrian crisis reminds us that we need renewed commitme |
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Dear Baby Boy Carlson-da Rocha: Welcome to the world! We are all working to make this world a better place for you and millions of other children... you are born into a world rife with challenges but there are many good people working to resolve these so that the world can be a better place for you and other children. I hope that someday you will think about other babies born long after you and will learn from our mistakes and successes. In doing so you too will contribute to making our world better!* |
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The international community is increasingly engaged in complex tasks aimed at providing wider support to societies emerging from conflict. An issue that has become central in such contexts is the protection of civilians under threat. As studies of the protection of civilians in Africa are still in the initial stages, the need exists for further reflection on the central role of such protection within peacekeeping operations in Africa. this training for peace (tfp) Special Issue of Conflict Trends further contributes to this discussion. |
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ACCORD is 20 years old this year. Have we succeeded in our mission? The answer is a resounding YES! Our experience has taught us that Africa's conflicts are complex, multi-faceted social phenomena that require skilled interventions and political will. Our response is therefore not complacency but a renewed determination to examine our efforts, assess our successes and failures, examine our context to understand the nature of the societies we engage with and consequently grasp how these conflicts will manifest themselves. We are fully committed to redoubling our efforts at capacity building and developing new and innovative solutions for our continent and globally. To achieve these goals we embrace a new African consciousness that renders us responsible and accountable for the challenges that our continent faces. |
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The year 2011 will certainly go down in history as a watershed year, dominated by political and economic upheavals and natural disasters. The popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, together with the global protests under the 'Occupy Movement', have once again highlighted the power that ordinary citizens have to bring about change. The recent slogan of the 'Occupy Movement' – that we should all "live simply so that people can simply live" – should be our guiding principle for forging a new social compact between the state, the private sector and civil society, to ensure some measure of equity and prosperity for all the peoples of the world. |
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ACCORD is one of the main actors at the forefront of shaping and supporting both the peacekeeping and peacebuilding fields. It has assisted countries in developing peacebuilding strategies, and has supported the strengthening of peacekeeping missions throughout Africa. ACCORD remains committed to the goal of strengthening the understanding of the nexus between peacekeeping and peacebuilding. This special Issue of Conflict Trends unpacks and provides clarity on some of the key questions and issues related to the peacekeeping-peacebuilding nexus, and how it impacts peacekeeping operations and the larger contexts in which they operate. |
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As an African conflict resolution organisation that aims to have a global impact and deal with the greatest conflict issues of our time, ACCORD’s objective is to play a proactive role in mitigating and preventing climate change-related conflicts. Climate change will, at the very least, increase existing stressors and magnify current socio-economic and political factors that could trigger and exacerbate conflict. But how will this happen? What are the dynamics at play? Are there lessons from existing environmental conflicts that could be applied now and in the future to deal with such challenges? |
