As part of ACCORD’s peace building work in Burundi ACCORD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Republic of Burundi which aims to support the establishment of an Office for Strategic Studies and Development (OSSD) in the Office of the President of Burundi.
The MoU arises out of an agreement signed between ACCORD and the Government of the Republic of Burundi on 25 June 2006, the day that ACCORD awarded the Nation of Burundi the Africa Peace Award, to increase the capacity of the Government to plan and implement national level policies and to build capacity in areas critical to the successful post-conflict period, which included, among others, “to reinforce the capacity of the Government to develop and implement short, medium and long term strategies and implementation plans.”
ACCORD will assist the OSSD with capacity building in, among other areas, research, policy development, consultation techniques, strategy development and communication skills.
As part of this process ACCORD conducted a two day skills workshop with the team who will run the office, which included the Head of the OSSD, at ACCORD House from 11-12 June 2009. Assisting ACCORD in this process is Dr. Alioune Sall, the Director of the African Futures Institute based in Gauteng.
ACCORD has contributed towards the peace process in Burundi since 1995 and in 2003 opened an office in Burundi.
