ACCORD’s Knowledge Production Department together with staff from the Interventions Department, paid a visit to the Luthuli Museum in Groutville on 12 March. The visit was as part of ACCORD’s mandate to build Fellows’ networks and capacity under the organisation’s Junior Fellowship Programme.
The visit was intended to deepen our current Junior Fellow, Tom Balemesa’s, and our colleague from Uppsala, Mimmi Soderberg-Kovacs, understanding of KwaZulu Natal’s history and South African politics. During the visit staff were also treated to a photographic exhibition by the struggle photographer Cedric Nunn.
Zinurine Alghali, a Senior Programmer in the Peacekeeping Unit and Tom Balemisa, ACCORD’s 2010 Junior Research Fellow peer over a waxwork of Chief Albert Luthuli seated at his writing desk in his home in Groutville at the Luthuli Museum.
From L-R, Bhavya Jeena (Communications Intern), Charles Scott (Head of Communications), Beatrice Nzovu (Senior Pragrammes Officer in Peacebuilding), Tome Balemisa (2010 Junior Research Fellow), Salome Van Jaarsveld (Knowledge Productions Officer), Njabulo Mathonsi (Programme Officer in KPD), Tamara J Kirkwood (Special Projects Officer in KPD), Mimmi Kovacs (Guest researcher from Uppsala University, Sweden) listen to Thulani, Luthuli Museum Guide, explain the significance of Chief Albert Luthuli to South African history.
Angela Ndinga-Muvumba (Manager, Knowledge Production) chairs the group discussion at Mimmi Soderberg Kovacs Internal Staff Seminar.
Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs, a guest researcher at ACCORD, presented an internal staff seminar on her research into “Rebels, Soldiers, Governments and Politicians: Three Research Topics on the Transformation from Civil War to Democratic Peace in Africa.” on Wednesday, 10 March.
Mimmi is a guest researcher from Sweden where she is an Assistant Professor at Uppsala University’s Department of Peace and Conflict Research (DPCR). She has primarily conducted research on Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mozambique, El Salvador and Cambodia. She has been with us since January 2010 and will stay till the end of March. From April to June 2010 she will be at the University of Cape Town. She is in South Africa is to conduct research and field work on three different research projects all relating to issues of war termination and conflict resolution on the African continent.
Mimmi’s research presentation posed questions on non-state actors in civil wars, rebel-to-party transformations, conflict resolution processes, and post-conflict democratisation.
