On 01 – 03 November 2024 the Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Dr Vasu Gounden, conducted a mediation workshop for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa’s (COMESA’s) Committee of Elders. The workshop, which took place in Bujumbura, Burundi, where the COMESA Summit was held on 31 October 2024, brought together nine members of the Committee of Elders for a mediation workshop, and discussion on the peace and security situation in the COMESA region.
The workshop aimed to supplement and strengthen the tools, concepts and skills of the Committee of Elders in managing conflicts. The purpose of the workshop was to share an enhanced understanding of mediation processes across Africa, as well as to create a deeper understanding of continental and global contemporary peace and security trends. Discussions focused on skills to analyse conflict, both in the region and continentally, providing an opportunity for the Committee of Elders to reflect on their leadership roles and how to enhance their efforts towards building peace in the COMESA region, as well as increasing collaboration and partnership with other similar structures at the African Union, Regional Economic Community / Regional Mechanisms levels.
The specific objectives of the workshop was to share knowledge and expertise on conflict analysis, mediation and conflict prevention through an understanding and explanation of the factors that cause and trigger conflicts in the COMESA region; to enhance the mediation and conflict prevention approaches of the COMESA Committee of Elders; to strengthen understanding on the conflict tools that can be adopted for effective conflict mitigation and management strategies; and to identify ways to strengthen collaboration among the Committee of Elders for consolidated conflict prevention interventions in the COMESA region.
The workshop contributed to a deeper understanding of how to analyse conflict to better understand individual country and regional contexts; a deeper understanding of the theory, concepts and application of mediation as a tool for preventing, mitigating and transforming conflict; increased collaboration and synergy between the COMESA Committee of Elders and other similar continental structures; and an increased knowledge of mediation strategies.
In February 2022, as a former member of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) Mediation Reference Group, the Executive Director was invited by the SADC Secretariat in Botswana to make a presentation at the Induction meeting for SADC’s Panel of Elders and Mediation Reference Group. In April 2022 the Executive Director facilitated a Retreat and Mediation Workshop for SADC’s panel of Elders in Durban, South Africa.
