Following the changed mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ACCORD has recently engaged with key peacebuilding stakeholders to consolidate sustainable peace efforts in the country.
The Training for Peace (TfP) Programme at ACCORD participated in a Southern African Development Community (SADC) - Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre (RPTC) 'Content Development Workshop’, held from 28 – 30 July 2010 in Harare, Zimbabwe.
ACCORD's African Peacebuilding Coordination Programme (APCP) will be conducting training sessions and workshops during July to September. This is tied to ACCORD’s aim of enhancing coherence and coordination of peacebuilding stakeholders through capacity-building initiatives.
ACCORD's Knowledge Production Department (KPD) - under their first thematic focus area of Peace Agreements and the second thematic area of Climate Change and Conflict - will be undertaking fieldwork in different countries during July and August 2010.
ACCORD's Training for Peace (TfP) Programme conducted an in-mission Conflict Management for Peacekeepers and Peacebuilders Course for the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Khartoum from 28 – 30 June 2010. The course included both national and international staff from the three components of the mission – civilian, police, and military.
ACCORD’s Peacekeeping Analyst, Gustavo de Carvalho, recently joined Chiefs of Civil Affairs from UN field missions to discuss and coordinate efforts aimed at improving their work at a meeting in New York.
ACCORD’s Peacemaking Unit recently conducted a Study Tour and Conflict Resolution Training for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from Sudan in Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa. The training aimed at enhancing the participants' understanding of conflict analysis and intervention strategies.
ACCORD hosted Professors Ajay Dubey and Aparajita Biswas from India on Wednesday 15 July 2010, as part of ACCORD’s commemoration of 150 years of Indian settlers in KwaZulu Natal. The academics are in South Africa is to look into the contribution of the Indian Diaspora to the development of South Africa over the last 150 years.
ACCORD staff recently retreated to Botha’s Hill for a two-day academic writing workshop hosted by the Knowledge Production Department (KPD). The picturesque, mid-winter environment at the Chantecler Hotel provided the perfect setting for nine ACCORD staff members to get their writing caps on and develop their academic and critiquing skills.
Peacekeeping Analyst, Gustavo de Carvalho has returned from the United Nations in New York with a fresh outlook on tackling the peackeeping challenges in Africa. Gustavo attended a thematic debate entitled "UN Peacekeeping: looking into the future" held at the UN headquarters on 22 June. The debate was called by the President of the UN General Assembly to allow all member states, academics, Non-Governmental Organisations, and other stakeholders to engage in the discussions on strengthening peacekeeping operations.
ACCORD staff recently flew to Oslo, Norway, to participate in planning the fourth phase of the Training for Peace Programme (TfP) in conjunction with our TfP partners. The meeting from 9-11 June was arranged by the Royal Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs to discuss an updated strategy for the TfP Programme.
