ACCORD/TfP funded and hosted the African Standby Capacity (ASC) Core Group Meeting in Durban, South Africa on 5-7 December 2017. The ASC Core Group Meeting, which was constituted by the Rostering Unit of the African Union Peace Support Operations Division and partners; Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and ACCORD, took place at the ACCORD offices. The Core Group meets once annually at the end of each year to review the implementation of the activities of the passing year and plan activities for the year ahead.
In the 2017 meeting, the discussions were very similar to previous years, however the group planned towards an end of a phase and the possibility of a new 3 year phase. The Core Group Meeting further provides partners the opportunity to make specific commitments on which areas to support as guided by the available resources outlined in their 2018 Work Plan. For the upcoming phase, the Core Group has planned to organise the Annual ASC Coordination Meeting in the first quarter of 2018 that will invite all relevant stakeholders to partake in the review, overview and planning of the rostering and training system. The Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) will host the 2018 Coordination Meeting.
ACCORD/TfP’s overall objective in participating in the ASC Core Group Meetings and activities is to support a sustainable rostering and training system, and to support concerted efforts at building a pool of ready-to-deploy civilian experts throughout Africa, as this facilitates rapid deployment in fulfilment of the Rapid Deployment Capability of the African Standby Force (ASF) concept.
The Training for Peace Programme at ACCORD is an initiative funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
