In line with keeping to the United Nations (UN) Civilian Capacities processes and developments for enhancing the civilian element for peace operations within the African continent, the Training for Peace and Africa Peacebuilding Coordination Programmes (TfP and APCP) at ACCORD under the Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Units, attended the Civilian Capacities (CivCap) Network’s Annual Partners Meeting. The CivCap Network was established in 2012 by ACCORD along with other partner institutions, with the objective to contribute to the mobilisation of civilian technical expertise to assist in post-conflict reconstruction, and to be a resource of knowledge for the Global South.
ACCORD representing South Africa was invited to attend the CivCap Network Annual Partner’s Meeting hosted by the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI) from the 18-19 September in Oslo, Norway. The CivCap Network has a diverse set of members which consists of ACCORD (South Africa), Igarape Social (Brazil), United Services Institute (India), Centre for Strategic and International Studies Jakarta (Indonesia), Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (Norway), Istanbul Policy Centre (Turkey), Institute for Contemporary International Studies (Russia), Cairo Centre for Training on Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (Egypt), and the Chinese Communist Party International Institute for Strategic Studies (China). ACCORD was represented by Ms Seun Abiola, Peacekeeping Unit Coordinator; and Mr Gustavo de Carvalho, Peacebuilding Unit Coordinator.
The agenda of the meeting was to focus on the current achievement of the CivCap Network thus far, and to further analyse the potential of joint research prospects and define future goals. Additionally, this meeting provided ACCORD with the opportunity to interact with other partner institutions and discuss the existing capacities of participating countries and exchange information focusing on how best to build up the cooperation and to liaise with government officials from the respective countries. Furthermore, the two day meeting set strategic plans for the CivCap Network and set a clearer goal for ongoing work within the partnership, looking at the role of emerging powers, the post-2015 development agenda, peace operations, and civilian capacities as important thematic areas of engagement.
