From June to December, ACCORD will be hosting ten conflict management training sessions for women-led non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) across the nine provinces in South Africa. These trainings are a part of a broader initiative that endeavours to strengthen the capacity of these women-led organisations in order to build the proliferation of conflict management, facilitation, and mediation capacities at the grassroots level. Through this initiative, the aim is to pilot local peacebuilding in the country through the means of technological access and empowerment.
The first two training sessions of the initiative were held on the 10th and 17th of June 2021. The trainings, facilitated by Ms Alison Lazarus,focused specifically on Conflict Dynamics. The key outcomes of the session resulted in the understanding of peace and conflict concepts as well conflict analysis tools. Specific attention was drawn to important foundational themes such as, but not limited to: negative and positive peace, peacekeeping, peace-making and peacebuilding. Furthermore, the participants engaged in a range of different activities that assisted in their understanding of these key introductory concepts in a practical context. Overall, this training sought to lay the foundation of conflict management in preparation for the upcoming training sessions.
In the following trainings to come, the other concepts that the participants will be introduced are:
- Local Peacebuilding
- Negotiation
- Mediation
- Learning to facilitate
This initiative locates itself in ACCORD strategic pillar 3: Enhanced Role of Women in Peace Processes and furthermore, it is part of the broader agenda of UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.
ACCORD looks forward to organising more training on conflict management to facilitate the increase of women’s participation in all levels of peacebuilding.
