On 20 and 21 October 2016, ACCORD’s Founder and Executive Director Vasu Gounden was invited to be a resource person at the above dialogue that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The dialogue arises out of an agreement between SADC and the EU to combine their efforts to address common threats to peace and security in Southern Africa and Europe.
On 20 October 2016 Mr Gounden was invited to present to the delegates attending the meeting a contextual analysis on Peace and Security at a global level, addressing the possible commonalties between SADC and the EU and covered the emerging threats facing the two regions in the context of Peace and Security. On 21 October 2016 Mr Gounden facilitated discussions around the thematic challenges of Democratization, Elections, Conflict Prevention & Resolution and Emerging threats, as well as discussion around the main conclusions and recommendations coming out of the meeting. SADC will share the conclusions of the dialogue at the Senior Officials’ Political Dialogue which will take place in Brussels, Belgium, on 08 November, 2016.
A central theme throughout the meeting was the overlapping effects of development, and peace, security and regional stability. Further, discussions about the importance of strengthen capacity for conflict prevention and early warning and an urge for directing attention to poverty, due to it being the root cause of many conflicts on the continent, were captured in the meeting.
The delegates attending the meeting were drawn from SADC Member States; representatives from the EU External Action Service, and representatives from the EU delegations in Botswana, Tanzania, and Swaziland.
In August 2016 Mr Gounden made a similar presentation to delegates attending the SADC Ministerial Committee Meeting of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, that was held in Maputo, Mozambique. Mr Gounden is also a member of the SADC Mediation Reference Group.
Written by Bethel Aregawi. For more information on ACCORD’s work, please contact Stephanie de Freitas, Researcher, Executive Office at Stephanie@accord.org.za.
