In late July 2011, ACCORD is to hold the second in a series of trainings on collaborative negotiation for agro-forestry education institutions in Francophone Africa. Given that natural resource conflicts have emerged as a key issue challenging local, regional, national and global security, ACCORD values the opportunity to bring our conflict management expertise and experience to this vital area.
Twenty-five participants from universities and food and agriculture institutions from Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali and Niger will participate in five days training from 18-22 July in Dakar, Senegal. The workshop will aim to pass on practical skills on collaborative negotiation as a conflict management technique in the natural resource field. The event follows a successful first training on the same theme held in Nairobi in February 2011. It is supported by ACCORD, in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the Institut des Sciences et de l’Environment (ISE), National Forest Program Facility (NFPF), and African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE).
Participants will be put through several role play and participatory exercises on collaborative negotiation and mediation, with the aim of gaining efficient skills to facilitate negotiations in the field of natural resource management and use the opportunity to adapt those skills to their teaching and course curricula. This contributes to ACCORD’s stated goal of building academic capacity and curricula in conflict prevention.
In follow up to these events, a joint training will bring together trainees from both Nairobi and Dakar in Durban, South Africa, in October 2011. A Training of Trainers (ToT) will be held, where a select group of participants will be developed to pass on the new skills to a wider range of learners in the field.
