On 18 June 2012, ACCORD’s Burundi Office hosted a roundtable discussion, focused on key peacebuilding issues for Burundi and the Great Lakes region. The discussion facilitated ACCORD’s ongoing contribution towards building a sustainable peace in Burundi.
The discussions focused on the key trends and concepts that are currently the highlight of the peacebuilding discourse on the continent and this was led by ACCORD’s Senior Peacebuilding Programme Officer, Mr Abu Sherif. In particular, the topics included peacebuilding lessons and insights for Burundi led by the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB) head of Political Governance, Mr Cheick Lamine Conde and peacebuilding in the Great Lakes led by Ambassador Sebastien Ntahuga, the former director of Conflict Prevention of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the ECCAS Planning Element as well as a former Chief of Cabinet of the Vice President in Burundi.
This roundtable allowed the group, which was a small but precise collective of academics, local and international NGO representatives, and BNUB Political Governance section to reflect upon the current challenges facing the country after the elections that were held in 2010. Furthermore, this exchange allowed ACCORD’s Burundi Office to showcase its current peacebuilding initiatives in the country with participants and ACCORD expressed its keen interest to continue to work with civil society organisations as they played an instrumental role in peace consolidation.
In addition, ACCORD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Conference on the Great Lakes (ICGLR) in 2010 and the Roundtable provided the opportunity for participants to discuss the significance of the regional dynamics and its impact on the peacebuilding processes for Burundi. The discussions provided a positive platform for the participants to also share in their own experiences and in taking the process forward, ACCORD will build upon the key peacebuilding topics by hosting of a broader peacebuilding workshop.
The workshop was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
