ACCORD’s Peacebuilding Unit concluded its third African Peacebuilding Coordination Network (APCN) training in Juba, South Sudan. The training was a follow up to 20 peacebuilding projects that were developed by peacebuilding stakeholders during the first and second trainings that the Unit conducted in Liberia and Burundi. The third training in Juba focused on skills enhancements in the sustainability of projects developed by participants over a period of 5 months.
Skills in strategies and techniques in resource mobilisation were also acquired by participants particularly through the display of their projects on the final day of the training. The projects display provided the opportunity for participants to exemplify their resource mobilisation skills for sustainability of projects. Participants’ projects were specific to their country’s context and peacebuilding gaps, ranging from in issues from reconciliation, gender issues, reintegration of former combatants, elections to capacity building. These projects have been identified as targeting major issues within the countries and will make a positive impact on a movement towards sustainable peace.
The training was held from 21-25 October 2013 and brought together the 20 principal stakeholders from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia and South Sudan. Participants represented government officials, civil society organisations and academia from the Unit’s focus countries of interventions.
The APCN trainings created the opportunity for participants to acquire skills in peacebuilding planning and enhanced their ability to secure funding. By the end of the training two participants secured funding for the projects they developed. The host nation, South Sudan’s country experience was used as a case study to better understand the challenges of implementing peacebuilding projects.
This activity brings APCN 2013 to an end and can be concluded as a major success for ACCORD, ending on a high note with twenty successful projects, a strengthened network among participants, an interactive online mentoring platform and reinforced understanding of key concepts for successful peacebuilding. ACCORD is proud of how far all of the participants have come since June and looks forward to continued relations. While this was only the first ACPN training, the Peacebuilding Unit hopes to expand the program and continue its mass successes.
