On Monday 07 March 2016, ACCORD and the US Consulate General in Durban hosted Ambassador Reuben Brigety at ACCORD House for a discussion on the upcoming general elections in the United States. Ambassador Brigety, currently the Dean of the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University (USA), previously served as the US Ambassador to the African Union and to Ethiopia.
As hosts of the event, Mr Vasu Gounden (ACCORD Founder and Executive Director) and US Consul-General Frances Chisholm opened the discussions with welcoming and introductory remarks. During the discussions Ambassador Brigety highlighted a variety of dynamics that underlie the current elections in the US and interrogated the roles that foreign policy issues could play in influencing the election process.
A number of different stakeholders from Durban and KZN participated in the discussions, including Professor Jairam Reddy (ACCORD Trustee and Chair of the Council at the Durban University of Technology), KZN Provincial MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu (Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs), as well as lecturers and students from DUT and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
