As part of its training support to United Nations missions, the Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme at ACCORD has started an Online Mentoring Support Network (MSN) for the United Nations Missions in South Sudan (UNMISS). The aim of the MSN is to support Civil Affairs Officers (CAOs), in utilising the Collaborative Conflict Management (CCM) tools and techniques shared during the initial CCM training courses that the programme conducted in 2012.
The TfP Programme planned and started implementing the MSN, in collaboration with the Civil Affairs team in New York. 15 UNMISS CAOs were selected for the one month meta phase test run, which will be launched on March 4-30 June 2013. Participants will engage on new concepts and topical issues identified, during the three initial CCM training courses delivered from August-October 2012. The concept and topical issues have been divided into five key topical areas relating to the work of UNMISS CAD, Conflict Analysis; Mediation; Governance; Peacebuilding and Cultural Considerations. Mentors for these themes are Pascal da Rocha, Cedric de Coning and Kwesi Sansculotte-Greenidge. To further support and facilitate these discussions; a resource library with reports, studies and research articles on topics has been created as well as a library of case studies of UNMISS CAO conflict management experiences.
At the end of the project period, the utility of the MSN will be evaluated, so that ACCORD and UNMISS CAOs can judge the added value of the support tool, and a decision about its future will then be taken. The MSN is moderated by Ms Barbara Mohale – Peacekeeping Unit Programme Officer. The outcome of the MSN will contribute to increased professionalism of UNMISS CAO’s, in their conflict management support roles. This will further contribute to the management of conflict in South Sudan. ACCORD looks forward to facilitating these interactive discussions, and to further strengthen the capacity of CAOs, with the guidance from mentors.
