ACCORD will be hosting a Seminar for leading
Civil Society Organisations, Private Sector Representatives and Senior
members of various political parties of Tanzania from 10-14 September 2001.
The seminar is titled: "Evolving a Social Contract between Political
Parties, Civil Society and Private Sector - A partnership for Peace and
Development".
The Seminar is intended to encourage
discussion on Democracy and Conflict Prevention among relevant stakeholders
and to provide a forum where these actors can engage in a critical discourse
which can enable them to transcend some of the challenges that they may
be faced with.
The Objectives of the Seminar are to explore ways to develop and enhance capabilities in conflict prevention, to create and improve a sense of co-operation among the relevant stakeholders and to allow them to come up with ways and means to promote peace and socio-economic development.
The Seminar will be officially opened by one of the Cabinet Ministers of Tanzania. The SADC and other diplomatic missions have been invited to the opening reception that is scheduled for 10 September 2001.
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) based in Durban, South Africa continues to encourage and facilitate dialogue on African challenges which emanate from continuous research and tracking of political developments in Southern Africa by ACCORD's Preventive Action Programme which is funded by the Department of International Development (DFID).
The Preventive Action Programme was established in order to keep track of political events taking place in the Southern African sub-region with the view to coming up with various conflicts prevention initiatives. ACCORD also engage in fact-finding missions in the sub-region to assess socio-political developments.
Any nation or society will agree that one of the fundamental conditions for peace is an equitable relation and stable equilibrium of key actors. However, such a state of affairs is one that is very challenging to achieve. Indeed, there are fewer conflicts in developed countries than in developing countries. This is said to be the case because of the diffusion of power between the state, private sector and civil society.
However, it has been noted that even though civil society may not have substantial resources, it has a potential to thrive if it gets organised and become vibrant. Thus, there is a need to broadened the playing field such that all relevant stakeholders can be empowered to thrive even without gaining state control. In the long run this situation can bring about a balanced system in place among the various sectors.
Indeed, a nation cannot have peace without development and vice versa. Sustainable peace involves a fair distribution of power, resources and participation in policy and decisions making. Peace encompasses economic, social and political issues. It is something more than the absence of violence and indeed includes ideas about development. Peace is not only absence of war, but also requires the participation of all actors in matters of mutual concern through collaboration and co-operation. Thus, as a strategy for conflict prevention, the Preventive Action Programme seeks to adopt pro-active steps to build mutually beneficial relationships among the stakeholders and utilise their differences (whether Civil Society, Government or private sector) constructively. Ours is not to ambitiously attempt to overhaul the status quo but to facilitate and assist in peace-building efforts. This is to commensurate capacity building for all stakeholders such that the governments can realise that civil society and business sector are an integral part of governance and therefore embrace it in the process of governance. The idea behind this strategy is to apply peace building as a preventive action measure.
Contact the ACCORD team in Das Es Salaam:
Jerome Sachane
African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Beachcomber Hotel
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel. (255) 22 2647772/3/4
Fax (255) 22 2647050