The Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, was invited to attend the 6th Oslo Forum, which was co-hosted by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. It was held from the 24th to the 26th of June 2008 in Oslo, Norway.
The Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa Summit, which was held in Cape Town from 4-6 June 2008. WEF brings together the key individuals from all levels of society and offers important discussion, information sharing and networking opportunities.
The Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, was invited to attend the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) which was co-hosted by the Government of Japan, The United Nations (UN/OSSA and UNDP) and the World Bank.
On the 16th of April Dr. Ziad Abu-Amr, who is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, the founder of the Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations and a former Palestinian Foreign Minister, visited ACCORD House along with Kjell-Ake Nordquist from the Stockholm School of Theology Human Rights Programme (previously the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University).
On 16 April 2008 ACCORD held its third Trustee EXCOM Meeting at ACCORD House. Two EXCOM meetings are held each year and this was the first meeting for 2008. The second EXCOM meeting will be held in August 2008.
On 22 November, the Founder and Executive director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, participated in a workshop in Brussels entitled “Conflict Prevention – Creating a Leading Role for the European Union ‘Co-operation with Regional Organisations,’” under invitation by the Madariaga European Foundation and the Folke Bernadotte Academy.
The Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD, Vasu Gounden, was invited to meet with Mr. Jan Knutsson during his visit to South Africa on the 2nd and 3rd of June 2008.
On 21 April 2008 the High Commissioner to South Africa for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, H.E. Anura Rajakaruna, visited ACCORD House. The High Commissioner previously visited ACCORD in April 2007 when he accompanied two political leaders from the Government of Sri Lanka, the Honourable Mr. Veerasingham Anandasangaree and the Honourable Mr. Douglas Devananda to ACCORD House.
On the 10th of April Stuart Bloomfield, a Senior Evaluation Manager in the Office of the Inspector General in the Evaluation Department at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Canada, visited ACCORD House.
On 8 December 2007 ACCORD hosted its Annual Trustees meeting at the Polana Serena Hotel in Maputo, Mozambique. The meeting was attended by five of ACCORD’s eight Trustees, who were accompanied by their spouses. During the late morning ACCORD was honoured to have former South Africa President H. E. President Nelson Mandela meet informally with ACCORD’s Trustees and Staff.
On the 20 November Marc Labrom, the new second Secretary (Political Affairs) based at the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria visited ACCORD House. Mr. Labrom’s visit follows visits in April this year by the Canadian High Commissioner, Ruth Archibald and the Political Counsellor Andras Vamos-Goldman.
