ACCORD, under the auspices of the Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme, hosted a Communication Package workshop which commenced from 18th – 19th June 2013. The workshop was attended by international representatives from the TfP partners. As the focal point of the workshop, ACCORD was designated with the responsibility to redesign and rebuild the TfP Communication Package strategy to enhance the branding of the TfP Programme and also improve coordination and collaboration between the partners.
The main objective of the workshop was to design the TfP Communication Package that would effectively communicate the broader objective of the TfP Programme to its relevant target audiences and key stakeholders. The two-day workshop aimed to generate discussions on developing the communication strategy and incorporating contributions from the TfP partners for improving coordination between the partners, and coherent internal and external communication through the use of a common framework.
With the paradigm shift from the traditional approach to peacekeeping to a more integrated and multidimensional approach – which not only focuses on the military, but also on civilians and police – the work of the TfP Programme has focused on improving the civilian dimension of peace operations and incorporating gender-sensitivity in peace processes. To achieve this, ACCORD together with the respective partner representatives stressed that in order to strengthen internal and external communication for transparency among the partners and respective target audiences, the communication strategy needed to emphasise the core message that TfP builds sustainable African civilian and police capacity for multidimensional peace operations through training, rostering, research, and policy support.
The work of ACCORD/TfP contributes towards shaping multidimensional peace processes on the African continent to build sustainable peace, to raise awareness and increase understanding of the importance of responsive and sustainable African civilian and police capacities. The outcome of the workshop demonstrated strong collaboration among the partners and paved the way for improving the partnership through cohesive communication.
