ACCORD Programme

Strengthening the Capacity of Women-led CBOs in South Africa

ACCORD aims to strengthen the capacity of women-led Community Based Organisations in conflict management, facilitation, and mediation capacities at the grassroots level.

African Women Leaders
The involvement of African women leaders in the prevention, management and resolution of conflict at the highest level, must be facilitated (REUTERS/JAMES GIAHYUE)

The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) is a conflict management NGO working across Africa to bring creative solutions to the challenges posed by conflict. With almost 30 years of experience, ACCORD aims to bring conflict resolution, dialogue and institutional development to the forefront – as an alternative to armed violence – through mediation, training, policy development and research. 

ACCORD’s Peace Model was officially recognized by the UN in 1996 as a viable model for Africa. ACCORD is headquartered in Durban, South Africa and has field offices in Burundi and the Central African Republic, and a working presence in Mozambique and South Sudan. ACCORD is the highest ranked African think tank institution, ranked 28th in the category “Top Think Tanks Worldwide (non-US)” for the 11th year in succession by the Pennsylvania University’s prestigious “Global Go To Think Tank Index”.

ACCORD’s current strategic focus is ‘Mitigating conflict towards sustainable peace, security and development in Africa’ through conflict prevention, resolution, and management. All of ACCORD’s programming provides support to key actors in the fields of peace, security, and development, such as the African Union (AU), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), national governments, and key stakeholders including women and youth, to have access to research products, analysis, strategy design and development, strategy implementation support, capacity building, and rosters of expertise to mitigate conflict towards building sustainable peace, security and development in Africa.

About the Initiative

The ACCORD project aims to support and highlight grassroots peacebuilding in South Africa through technological access and empowerment, to assist organisations with increased inclusion and participation in peacebuilding efforts. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the capacity of women-led Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in conflict management, facilitation, and mediation capacities at the grassroots level.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that grassroots peacebuilders will be essential to conflict prevention and mitigation; and that women peacebuilders have proven to be the backbone of resilient communities. Women have taken it upon themselves to seek creative ways to protect their families and communities.

As such, ACCORD would like to work with 12 women-led South African CBOs across the nine provinces. Selected organisations must put forward an individual who will represent their organisation throughout the project duration by participating in webinars, virtual conferences, training and capacity building sessions and e-meetings to connect to other grassroots peacebuilders.

Key Responsibilities

  • Selected organisations and their nominated point of contact must be available for the duration of the initiative until December 2021.
  • Nominated point of contact must participate in, and attend all related activities.
  • Nominated point of contact must submit all documentation such as reflections and assignments as required by the project, timeously throughout the initiative’s duration.
  • Nominated point of contact must commit to ensuring that imparted skills are shared and implemented within the organisation.  
  • Ensure that the provided resources are protected and used solely for the purposes of the project and related business operations. 

Selection Criteria for Participants

Organisational Criteria

  • South African-based and South African-focused community-based organisations (CBOs)
  • Diversity of experience
  • Representation from both new or relatively new CBOs (established in the last 1-4 years) and established or very established CBOs (established in the last 5-10+ years)
  • Able to demonstrate credibility in communities where the organisation operates  

Organisations in the following thematic fields, across the listed provinces, are encouraged to submit an application:

  1. Environmental Protection/Climate Change (Mpumalanga and Northern Cape based)
  2. Gender-based Violence (GBV)/Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) (ALL provinces)
  3. Xenophobia (KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng based)
  4. Gang-Related violence (Western Cape based)
  5. Human Trafficking of Women and Girls (sexual exploitation and labour trafficking) (Gauteng, Free State, Northern, Eastern and Western Capes)
  6. Local community peacebuilding programming (ALL provinces)

Individual Criteria

  1. Identify as a woman
  2. Display strong leadership skills in the organisation 
  3. Minimum 1-year experience with the organisation 
  4. Age Categories: Youth (18 – 35) and Experienced (36 – 60). 

Please download and complete the application form before emailing it and the CV of the nominated individual to zoe@accord.org.za with the subject line “(Name of your organisation) – Capacity Strengthening Initiative Application” before the deadline: 12 March 2021 – 17:00 pm SAST. 

We look forward to receiving your application!

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