ACCORD participated in Kofi Annan – Dag Hammarskjöld Annual Lecture and High Level Roundtable Meeting, on the theme: Identifying and mitigating risks in the prevention of armed conflict. The Lecture and Meeting was held in Accra, Ghana from 03-04 October 2018 and co-organised by Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.
The annual lectures are in honour of the two former Secretary-Generals of the United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan and Dag Hammarskjöld. The 2018 annual lecture was attended by government functionaries, members of the diplomatic corps, senior military officers, defence advisors, senior police officers, the academia, civil society organizations and persons working in the diplomatic service.
The Guest Speaker for the 2018 annual lecture was Mr Adama Dieng, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, who noted that early warning and action, respect for human dignity and rights, strong state institutions and civil society groups and inclusiveness are key to armed conflict prevention.
At the heart of efforts to maintain peace and security on the continent, and in the world, are the twin mechanisms; prevention and partnerships. Ongoing reforms within the UN, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which is the strategic framework for socio-economic transformation of the continent over the next five decades, underscore the need to address the root causes of conflict and to deepen cooperation and engagement between regional and international organisations to better mitigate identified risks to peace and security.
A roundtable was held after the lecture comprising a group of 12 high-level individuals drawn from the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs), the UN and civil society organisations. The roundtable focused on risks assessment and response, challenges and lessons learnt from the perspectives and experiences of participating organizations, and ways to enhance inter-organizational co-operation and coordination.
Further, the roundtable discussed approaches to strengthening risk analysis and the translation of such assessments into actionable joint responses to prevent violence and armed conflict on the African continent.
The roundtable also discussed the use of joint risk analyses in efforts to mitigate and prevent armed conflict and how to strengthen inclusion of a broad spectrum of society in prevention efforts.
The roundtable strengthened ACCORD’s understanding on the prevention of genocide and on identifying and mitigating risks in the prevention of armed conflict in Africa. The roundtable also provided a platform for ACCORD to share its mediation support experiences in Africa as well as learn from mediators and other practitioners in the field.
ACCORD remains committed to supporting conflict prevention efforts in the continent and further, to supporting the UN, African Union (AU), RECs/RMs) and other actors to realise sustainable peace.
