Supporting and strengthening mediation intervention efforts in the IGAD region
ACCORD provided thematic expertise at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Mediation Support Unit (MSU) Experience Sharing Workshop for the South Sudanese Mediation Committee to the Sudanese Peace Talks. This event took place from 15 – 17 March 2021 in Uganda, with the mediators meeting on the ground and with experts contributing within a virtual platform.
The workshop convened mediators to the Sudanese peace talks, together with mediation & peacebuilding experts from various regions and representatives from regional mechanisms to share experiences, exchange knowledge and insights on mediation processes. Thus mediation experts shared their experiences on mediation interventions that included the Great Lakes and SADC regions. The workshop created an opportunity for the South Sudan Mediation Committee and regional mediation experts to interface, share tactics on mediation processes, as well as identify ways in which to engage the hold-out groups in the peace process.
The South Sudanese Mediation Committee also shared the bottlenecks and challenges that were encountered during the peace process, and in doing so were able to also identify recommendations on how to address these challenges following the discussions with the experts. The committee noted that experience sharing workshops, such as these have been helpful towards as they continue their engagement in the peace process and recommended similar workshops to take place.
This workshop therefore contributed towards enhancing the efforts of the committee in mediation interventions, as well as providing guidance on steps going forward. ACCORD and IGAD MSU will continue to collaborate in support of strengthening mediation processes in the IGAD region.
