On 07 April 2022 Dr Vasu Gounden, the Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, was invited to be a resource person at the 2022 South African Heads of Mission Conference, hosted by DIRCO in Pretoria, South Africa, from 7 to 10 April 2022. The theme of the conference was Positioning South Africa’s Diplomacy Globally to advance domestic priorities in a post COVID-19 era.
The conference provided a briefing to South Africa’s envoys on the government’s strategic mandate and objectives, with special focus on South Africa’s economic recovery initiatives, as outlined in the President’s 2022 State of the Nation address, as well as looking at the post COVID-19 era. Cabinet Minister’s briefed the Heads of Mission on their departmental programmes, while discussions with various stakeholders enabled the Heads of Mission to assess and align their work with the global environment and trends, especially the implementation of South Africa’s foreign policy through DIRCO’s international relations programme.
The Executive Director made a presentation on “A critical reflection of South Africa’s role in conflict situations globally, and in Africa, and South Africa’s impact in promoting peace and security in Africa”.
