In late 2008 Vasu Gounden, the Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, was appointed onto the ICCO’s International Advisory Council. He was therefore invited to participate in an International Working Conference hosted by ICCO from 14 to 18 September 2009. The purpose of the conference was to finalize and conclude the process of dialogue of the key stakeholders regarding the preparation of ICCO’s strategic plan for 2011- 2015. The conference was find out whether there was common ground to make a shift to decentralised cooperation with Southern partners and how this transition process should be planned, taking into account that co-responsibility should be one of the key elements of the new organisation.
The Stakeholders present at the meeting included ICCO staff; representatives of partner organisations in developing countries; and representatives of partners in The Netherlands and of worldwide organisations.