ACCORD’s Training for Peace (TfP) Senior Programme Officer, Mrs Karishma Rajoo, participated in the United Nations (UN) Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Training Development Workshop on Gender Equality in Peacekeeping in Windhoek, Namibia, from 30 June-4 July.

Cedric de Coning, Research Fellow and Advisor to the Peace & Security Unit at ACCORD, made a presentation on the current and future role of private contractors in peacekeeping operations in Africa, at the University of Stellenbosch on Wednesday, 17 May 2006. The presentation formed part of a day-long seminar organised by the Department of Sociology of the University of Stellenbosch for a group of approximately 30 students from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces

The Training for Peace (TfP) Senior Programme Officer, Karishma Rajoo, recently participated in the University for Peace (UPEACE) (www.upeace.org) short course in Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR). The course, held from 3-7 April, was coordinated through the UPEACE Africa Programme (www.africa.upeace.org), and its local partner, the Centre for Human Rights (www.chr.up.ac.za) based at the University of Pretoria.

The Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme has been invited by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to participate in their pre-deployment training for troops to be deployed to the United Nations Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI). The training will take place in Pretoria, South Africa, from 6-10 March, and the modules on Conflict Management for Peacekeepers and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) will be presented by the Programme at the course.

The Training for Peace Programme Advisor, Mr Cedric de Coning, will deliver a paper on the "Civilian dimensions of Peace Operations – An Overview" on 6 February in Addis Ababa at an AU seminar on the Role of Civilian Components in Peace Support Operations. The seminar will serve as an orientation for AU staff on the civilian roles in peace operations with a view to preparing a series of workshops in 2006 and 2007 aimed at integrating the civilian dimension into the African Standby Force concept. 

The “Peacekeeping - Peacebuilding: Preparing for the Future” conference will take place in Helsinki on 29 May. It is organised by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA - www.upi-fiia.fi) and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (http://www.formin.fi/english/) in the framework of the 50th anniversary of Finnish peacekeeping.

ACCORD’s TfP Programme, represented by Senior Programme Officer, Karishma Rajoo participated in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) meeting that was held in Berlin, Germany from 26-28 April 2006. Several organizations involved in the field of peace and security, mainly across Europe, attended a workshop in Brindisi, Italy to discuss the standardization of DDR training

The Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme has been invited by the Kenya Peace Support Training Centre (KPSTC) to participate in their tenth United Nations Military Observers training course. The training was held over three weeks in March 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the ACCORD ran modules on conflict analysis, negotiation and mediation on the 13th.

The ACCORD Training for Peace (TfP) in Africa Programme will host a Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) Curriculum Development workshop in Pretoria, South Africa from 6-7 March, which will involve a group of approximately 10International and African DDR experts.

The Training for Peace (TfP) Programme Advisor and Senior Programme Officer will participate in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Policy Development Workshop. The workshop, co-hosted by the Kofi Annan International Peace Training Center (KAIPTC), will be held from 8-10 February 2006 in Accra, Ghana under the auspices of the TfP Programme.