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= Article Final: African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)  = The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) is a non-governmental organization based in South Africa that operates on the whole continent of Africa. Founded in 1992 by Mr. Vasu Gounden, ACCORD seeks for the peaceful resolutions of African conflicts by providing alternatives and conflict dialogue to the conflicting parties through mediation, negotiation, and training activities. It specializes in conflict management, conflict analysis, and conflict prevention. Since 1992, ACCORD has worked in 34 African countries.

In 2005, the United Nations recognized ACCORD's interventions approach as a viable module for the construction of peace.

History
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes was founded in 1992, by Mr. Vasu Gounden, a lawyer and human rights activist. Since 1992, it has trained over 20,000 people in various conflict management and conflict resolution. ACCORD opened its first office at the University of Durban-Westville located in the east coast of South Africa and two other offices in 1993 at the University of the Western Cape and Sohnge College. In 1998, the organization hosted the first International Peace Research Association Conference in Africa. In 2005, ACCORD was the first African NGO to address the UN Security Council. Nelson Mandela endorsed the organization and stated: "The principles underpinning ACCORD’s operations are the very ideals for which humanity has striven for centuries – peaceful resolution of conflict, human rights, and good governance."

Objectives
ACCORD's stated objectives are : "To facilitate the introduction of, support for, and sustainability of conflict management interventions in conflict affected societies;To utilise the analysis of conflict to conceptualise programmes in conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding;To enhance policy, research and practice in the field of conflict management and to contribute towards sustainable peace and development in Africa and beyond".

The organization's more specific objectives are: "To build academic departments in conflict and peace studies and establish a number of programs that impact in a number of areas targeting specific groups of people who it thinks need these skills. - To identify and assist NGOs in Africa that require capacity-building. - To work with government departments to build conflict management mechanisms within these departments".

Activities
ACCORD's main activity is intervention between conflicting parties as mediators and advisers for a peaceful resolution. To achieve that goal, the organization researches and analyzes the cause of conflicts and train its volunteers & staff members to respond appropriately to the situation. It also negotiates on behalf of parties and provides recommendations. Indirectly to conflict management, the organization also works on different projects, programs, and initiatives. ACCORD also works on Special Projects, which are short-term "area of focus" set by themselves. An example of a Special Project is the Conflict and Governance Facility (CAGE), which is an independent study on the role of peacekeepers and the challenges in South African conflict. Alongside this, the organization has a 5 year strategy plan that directs ACCORD's efforts in a modern and up to date context. The current 5 year strategy (2017-2021) is to strengthen the capacities and responses of individuals and institutions towards the prevention, resolutions of conflicts with the intention to build sustainable peace, security and development. The organization's main countries of focus are Burundi, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, South Sudan, and Sudan.

Back in 2012, ACCORD launched the "Butterfly Effect campaign" that focused on the use of child soldiers (more specifically girl child soldiers) in Africa's conflicts zone. It used social media and other means of communication to raise awareness of child soldiers in hopes to eradicate their presence in conflicts.

On June 25, 2013, ACCORD began its campaign in Liberia where it trained participants in strategic planning within a peace building process.

Highlights
In 2010, ACCORD signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Sierra Leone that led to numerous peace-building engagements. The organization provided the government of South Sudan and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan a peace-building training in 2011 and later opened an office in Juba 2012. In May 2013, ACCORD held and organized several high-level meetings and participated in a conflict assessment mission in September 2013 after the inauguration of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali. In 2014, it hosted training camps on dialogue and mediation for youth representative from the Central African Republic and the Economic Community of Central African States. From 2010 to 2015, the organization was among the top 10 Think Tanks in Sub-Saharan Africa and was placed 63rd Think Tank in the World-Wide category by the University of Pennsylvania’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP). As of 2017, the TTCSP also ranked ACCORD 35th out of 7815 worldwide.

Staffing
Accord has about 50 workers in it headquarters and 90 employees spread over Africa. It has permanent, temporary, contract staffing and has consultants and interns in its organization. The salary of the staff comes from the funds allocated to projects and grants. Between the years of 1995-1999, 20% to 40% of the project cost were allocated to salaries. There is also the indirect costs of "staff development", which accounts to an additional 14%-20% of the budget for programs. Volunteers compose of more or less than 5% of the total staffing in the organization.

Budget & funding
In 2001, ACCORD's budget was R10million for the whole year. The lowest budget it had was between R500,000 and R1million Bracket. Surplus in grants and projects are returned to the funder. If profit is made, the money goes on to fund other projects that lack funds or to create a new project. The organization estimate that 85% of the funds go to target groups, while the remaining 15% goes to the administration cost of ACCORD.

ACCORD's funds come from a variety of donors: "bilateral, multilateral, private agencies, international corporations, South Africa's government departments, South African companies, self-generated funds, investments sources". The organization also generates its own funds but it does not account for the majority of its revenues. In 2003, its self-generated funds only amounted to 2% of the total funds.

Partnership
The organization has a wide variety of partnerships. Among them are the Government of the Republic of Burundi, the government of Finland, the Crisis Management Institute and the African Union, the Republic of Liberia, the African Union Mission in Somalia and many more.

Criticism
ACCORD is criticized as a "Commercialized NGO" which uses its volunteers as a marketing tool to generate funds and labor since the volunteers do not partake in important projects and contribute little to the overall goals of ACCORD. This commercialization also threatens the integrity of the organization because it has to distinguish and compromise between "profitable" and "non-profitable" missions in order to continue to operate. Since it relies on big donors to operate, ACCORD is vulnerable to corporate/government influences. Additionally, the organization suffers from its large bureaucratic section, which has made it inflexible and slow in its response to crisis. Unequal distribution of ACCORD's revenues between the organization's goals and its salaries is also one of the organization's critique. It is also criticized for its lack of transparency over salaries distribution and is criticized to run with a business-like mentality when it comes to performance bonuses and staff appraisals. ACCORD does not collaborate with other NGO' s or CBO because they are seen as a competitors to the organization, thus ACCORD only relies on the private or governmental sectors.

comment
Peer-Review (Mathilde Butler) Very complete and well-done assessment of this NGO! After reading your draft I feel like I truly know how ACCORD works and what they have accomplished over the years. Your writing style is very neat and easy to read.

What I however would modify is the order of the different sections. You put the objectives of ACCORD at the very end, as to me it should be within the first sections in order to give the reader a better idea of what lies ahead. Moreover, I feel like putting the criticism regarding the NGO at the end is also more efficient: The reader knows what the organization truly is about, and then an opinion from the outside is brought in, giving an opportunity to see both sides of the coin.

Peer Review #2 (Shelby M.)

I would definitely agree that you cover everything needed in your article about this NGO. Your opening paragraph is very strong and introduces the topic perfectly. I will also compliment you on all the sections you were able to cover and include in your article, however I would agree with the first peer review and arrange them differently, and possibly tie a few together under a broader theme (ex: funding and budget could possibly be covered under one section). Another constructive criticism I would like to add is the "aesthetic" of your article, glancing over it the repetition of your NGO's name catches my attention, however does not affect the quality of your article. Overall you've done good job!