CONTENTS
1. Programme News
2. New ACORD Publications
3. Useful Resources
4. Vacancies
5. Newsletter and Subscription details
1. PROGRAMME NEWS
BUILDING CAPACITY AT GRASSROOTS LEVEL
When working on grassroots capacity building, how do we decide whose
capacity to build, and what kind of capacity to build? How can we link
practical skills development with empowering people to tackle the
higher-level factors which contribute to poverty and marginalisation?
These are some of the key issues dealt with in a recent report by ALEX
SHANKLAND on developing a more strategic approach to grassroots
capacity building based on lessons from ACORD's own experience in
Southern Africa. The report draws on a number of discussions and
workshops held with ACORD field staff and grassroots partners in
Tanzania, Mozambique and Angola between April and July 2000 and at the
Southern Africa Regional Meeting in November 2000.
Newsletter article (abstract): http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art3.htm
Full report: www.acord.org.uk/r-pubs-Strategic%20capacity%20building.doc
SUDAN: PORT SUDAN PROGRAMME HANDED OVER TO LOCAL NGO
ACORD's Port Sudan Small Scale enterprise
programme (SUD/12) was successfully handed over to the Port Sudan
Association for Small Scale Development, a local and fully registered
NGO established in 2000 to continue the delivery of activities
previously provided by ACORD. The overall aim of the association is to
improve the quality of life and future prospects of poor people, women
in particular. The main target groups are the urban poor, the
displaced and refugees. The NGO has maintained a dynamic relationship
with ACORD and is currently working with ACORD on the Eastern Sudan
Rural Urban Linkages Programme (SUD/25).
SUDAN: DEVELOPING A UNIFIED COUNTRY STRATEGY
ACORD's programme teams from Northern and Southern Sudan attended
a Focus Meeting in Zurich on 21-22 May 2001 to design and present a
unified country strategy as part of ACORD’s planning and
consultation process for its future programming implementation in
Sudan. The meeting was also aimed at sharing viewpoints, information
and strategies with partners, supporters and colleagues working on
humanitarian aid development issues. The meeting was hosted by HEKS,
the Swiss Interchurch aid organisation and one of ACORD’s consortium
members. Contact ACORD for further details
SUDAN: NEW PROGRAMME TO SUPPORT DISPLACED IN
KHARTOUM
ACORD will begin a new programme to provide support to the
displaced in Khartoum (SUD/26). The programme will centre on
micro-finance, HIV/AIDS, capacity building and advocacy and dialogue
between different ethnic groups and between the displaced and other
stakeholders.
ERITREA: REPATRIATION
Most of the displaced in ACORD's programme area are being
repatriated now that the UN buffer zone has been set up. ACORD's
Emergency Programme (ERT/4E) is moving towards rehabilitation,
providing support to the displaced as they make their way home, though
there are still a large number of displaced people within the security
zone.
ETHIOPIA: A new food security programme
for rural Dira Dawa has been submitted to the EU for funding.
SOMALIA: 'NOBODY WAS SPARED': INVESTIGATING
CONFLICT AND GENDER IN SOMALIA
As part of ACORD’s current research project on gender-sensitive
programme designing and planning in conflict-affected areas (sponsored
by DFID), ACORD Somalia has been researching the effects of the Somali
conflict on gender relations. The collection of oral testimonies has
proven to be a useful research method, giving a shocking insight into
how men and women have experienced and coped with the civil war in
Somalia.
Newsletter article: http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art5.htm
UGANDA: NORTHERN UGANDA PROGRAMME DEFINED
A Northern Uganda Area programme has been defined to bring
together existing projects in Gulu, Kitgum, Moyo and Adjumani. The
overall vision of the programme is the creation of the conditions for
peace in Northern Uganda. This will build on the successful work done
in Gulu which integrated practical responses to the consequences of
violent conflict with research, dialogue and influencing seeking to
create the conditions in which the violence could be brought to an
end.
UGANDA: PPP HEALTHCARE FUND MBARARA WATER
PROGRAMME
ACORD has been awarded a grant by PPP Healthcare, a UK charitable
trust specialising in health and sanitation, to fund ACORD’s water
programme in Mbarara.
RWANDA: QUARTER OF A MILLION OF RWANDA'S
HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY CHILDREN
The new social phenomenon of child headed households is one of the
many consequences of the tragic events that have shaken Rwanda since
the 1990s. Research undertaken by ACORD, funded by the Diana Princess
of Wales Memorial Trust, estimates that a staggering 257,000 of
Rwanda's 1.7 million households may currently be headed by children
and that almost all of the children became heads of households in the
1990s. Besides facing huge material problems, the children face an
almost complete lack of social support. Increased poverty and the
animosity resulting from the genocide have eroded any sense of
solidarity within their communities and in most cases they are
completely ignored. Based on the results of its research, ACORD is
drawing up a programme proposal and will seek funding to support
Rwandese children under 18 who act as heads of households.
Newsletter article (abstract): http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art2.htm
Full report: http://www.acord.org.uk/r-pubs-Rwanda%20Child-headed%20hhs.PDF
BOTSWANA: DFID fund new HIV/AIDS work
ACORD was successful in obtaining a £488,000 DFID fund over two
years to fund new HIV/AIDS work in Botswana. For further details
contact Mary Garvey, ACORD Programme Coordinator, Botswana e-mail: ACORD@info.bw
ANGOLA: ACORD REPRESENTED AT ANGOLAN PEACE
BUILDING CONFERENCE IN AMSTERDAM
At the recent 'Angolan Reflections on Peace Building Conference'
in Amsterdam on 11 May, Guilherme Santos, ACORD's Angola Country Co-ordinator
gave a presentation on the practical experiences of institutional
strengthening in the non-government sector in Southern Angola with the
objective to cultivate the socio-political role of the NGO partners as
agents of development and civil society.
Newsletter article: http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art4.htm
Full Presentation: www.acord.org.uk/r-pubs-AngolaPP.doc
ANGOLA: ACORD PROVIDES TRAINING ON RESPONDING
TO EMERGENCIES
In response to the recent floods in Namibia, the institutional
strengthening programme in Southern Angola (ANG/06) provided three
training modules on responding to emergencies. These included: liasing
with INGOs, assessing the information needs of humanitarian
organisations and working closely with them to ensure appropriate
distribution. The partners were working closely with the UN Office of
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
ANGOLA: FIRST DRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN
The first draft of ACORD's strategic plan for Angola has been
completed which, following comments from stakeholders, will be agreed
and will define future programming in Angola. Please note: this is a
first draft startegic plan. Comments to Guilherme Santos, ACORD
Country Co-ordinator Angola e-mail: acord.guilhermes@netangola.com
(cc: debrav@acord.org.uk)
Full report:
www.acord.org.uk/b-resources.htm
MOZAMBIQUE: ACORD LAUNCHES FIRST INTERNET
CAFE
Since its launch in March this year, ACORD's new Internet Café
and Documentation Centre in Niassa Province, Mozambique has provided
individuals and civil society organisations in the province with
easier access to, and put them in a better position to exchange
information and experiences with other Mozambican Provinces and the
world. Contact ACORD for further information.
Newsletter article: http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art4.htm
TANZANIA: NEW GOVERNANCE AND BASIC RIGHTS
PROGRAMME LAUNCHED IN KARAGWE
ACORD launched its new governance and basic rights programme in
Karagwe in March this year. At the launch, local leaders and civil
society organisations highly commended ACORD for its practical
emphasis on participation and communication with beneficiaries and the
active promotion of Government-NGO partnerships in the district.
Newsletter article: http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art4.htm
SAHEL: MALI, MAURITANIA AND BURKINA FASO
GROUPING INTO SINGLE PROGRAMME
In line with ACORD's move towards larger Area Programmes, the
Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso programmes are grouping themselves
into a single Sahel programme. The visions and objectives of this
cluster of programmes is to help some of the most socially and
economically marginalised people of the region develop their own
capacity to protect their rights and achieve justice. This will build
on existing work around the decentralisation process and civil society
in which ACORD has been engaged.
SAHEL: NEWS
a) After engaging in a process of social
exclusion analysis in Ouagadougou in May this year, the programmes in
the Sahel I cluster identified classism and sexism as the most
important common issues.
b) Based on a long involvement in poverty
reduction, ACORD Mali has been invited by the government to take an
active part in drafting a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
c) ACORD Kidal has been involved in training
newly elected representatives in pastoralist society.
d) As part of ACORD West Africa’s greater
emphasis on networking and alliancing on an international level, ACORD
MALI took part in the African Forum of Canadian NGOs in May. ACORD
spoke of its experience and how to relate it to the broader concerns
of trade, images of Africa and civil society/citizenship. * As a
direct result of ACORD’s work in capacity building with marginalised
Haratines, a law has been passed which now entitles Haratines to the
title deeds of the land on which their agricultural projects occur.
LAKE CHAD: NEWS
The new Lake Chad (Sahel II) area programme is currently
identifying issues facing people in the area (Nigeria, Cameroon,
Chad). Results of the study will be shared at a planning workshop with
actors from the three countries and detailed design will take place
before the end of the year.
FOREST ZONE: NEWS
The developing Forest Zone cluster programme will group programmes
in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. ACORD worked in Guinea in the
past and is currently working in one of the most hotly contested areas
of Liberia. Given the programme's limited financial and managerial
resources and the limited interest shown by the outside world for this
particular region, ACORD will have to review how it intends to proceed
in the months to come.
LIBERIA: PROGRAMME COORDINATOR EVACUATED
Mary Musirika, ACORD's programme co-ordinator in Liberia, was
evacuated to Monrovia from Gbanga, capital of Bong County, after the
town came under severe attack in early May. The programme management
had only recently been moved to Gbanga after similar attacks in Zorzor.
GUINEA: IDPs, LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY AS KEY
CONSIDERATIONS
ACORD should work with internally displaced people and focus on
lobbying and advocacy according to a recent needs assessment
commissioned to understand the causes of the conflict in Guinea and
its effect on the region.
HIV/AIDS: ACORD DEVELOPS FIRST PAN-AFRICAN
HIV/AIDS PROGRAMME
ACORD has taken its first concrete steps towards developing a single
crosscutting HIV/AIDS programme across its work in Africa. Twenty-nine
participants, including nine ACORD HIV/AIDS field officers and five
partners' representatives met in Pretoria in March to agree on the
overall mission, objectives and strategic approach of the new
programme. The development of this programme is in line with ACORD's
new direction in which activities are structured along linked thematic
and geographical lines. The HIV/AIDS programmes, like the other
emerging thematic programmes, will link programmes to each other and
with the wider environment and will aim to advance ACORD's
understanding and capacity in promoting rights, social inclusion and
social justice in a specific thematic area. The other four emerging
themes are currently civil society, gender, conflict and livelihoods.
Newsletter article (abstract): http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art6.htm
HIV/AIDS: ACORD JOINS CAMPAIGN COALITION TO
FIGHT HIV/AIDS
ACORD and fourteen other of the UK's foremost AIDS and development
organisations have joined forces in a Campaign Coalition to fight
HIV/AIDS effectively in developing countries.
Newsletter article: http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art6.htm
METHODOLOGY: SOCIAL EXCLUSION ANALYSIS
Social Exclusion Analysis is a powerful tool used by ACORD - both
internally and with those it works with - to understand the links
between the causes, manifestations and consequences of the social
exclusion arising from various forms of discrimination by individuals
and/or groups. Building on earlier work done by OSDC (Orgnaisational
and Social Development Consultants, the tool involves sharing the
points of view of a group of people. Through analysing these points of
view, the group members gain both a deeper, and to some degree, shared
understanding of their own roles in discriminating against others and
being discriminated against.
Newsletter article: http://www.acord.org.uk/inacord/inAcord2/InAcord2Art7.htm
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2. OTHER RECENT ACORD PUBLICATIONS/ RESOURCES
NOT MENTIONED ABOVE
a) Formation en Decentralisation des agents,
formateurs et partenaires: rapport de synthese, CENAFOD-MALI (Centre
National d'Appui et de Formation pour le Developpement des Resources
Humaines), ACORD KIDAL. April 2000.Contact ACORD for a copy of this
publication.
b) Elements de Synthese Relatifs a la
Particapation de ACORD a l'atelier sur "Capacity Building
Workshop on Trade and Development in Africa", by Fati Aboubacrine,
ACORD Kidal, Seid Sultane Ali, ACORD Chad. May 2001. Available as a MS
Word document at www.acord.org.uk/r-pubs-rapportACCRA.doc
c) Collapsing Masculinities and Weak States: a
case study of Northern Uganda by Chris Dolan, Research Officer, ACORD,
April 2001. DRAFT. NOT FOR CITATION. Forthcoming in "Making Men
Matter: Men, Maculinities and Gender relations in Development"
Zed Books, London.Available as a MS Word document at www.acord.org.uk/r-pubs-CollapsingMasculinities.doc
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3. USEFUL RESOURCES
Programme Development Puzzle: Making the Pieces
Fit by National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) A step-by-step guide to
developing a new programme, budgeting for it, fitting the programme
into the organisation, and writing a proposal to fund it. Available
free on the web as a .pdf file at: http://www.nmac.org/NewsLetters/NMAC/Technical/puzzle.pdf
(Source: Board Cafe newsletter, CompassPoint NonProfit Services and
the National Centre for Nonprofit Boards.)
Global Challenge, Local Response (28 min. video
and facilitator's guide) - part of VSO's approach to mainstreaming and
integrating HIV/AIDS issues and considerations into all its work in
Southern Africa. Primarily aimed at preparing new VSO volunteer
development workers for playing a part in addressing HIV/AIDS during
their stay in Southern Africa, and is being used as part of an
integrated in-country training programme. Price: £20 (excl. post and
packaging). To order, e-mail raisa@vso.org.uk
Beijing Plus Five Project: Final Report; Gender
and Development Network. This is the final report of a project set
which out to conduct a review of UK based NGOs to find out how they
had progressed in implementing and promoting the Beijing Platform for
Action (BPFA). For a copy, contact GAD Network, c/o Womankind
Worldwide, 3rd Floor Viking House, 5 -11 Worship Street, London EC2A
2BH.
How to Challenge a Colossus: Engaging with the
World Bank and the IMF by Geraldine Terry, February 2001, Gender and
Development Network. This report was written to help UK-based Gender
and Development (GAD) advocates to develop effective strategies aimed
at influencing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It
tries to show how the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) can be used
to lobby on key issues of the Bank and the Fund's work, suggests broad
strategies and identifies relevant targets. For a copy contact GAD
Network, address as above.
"Men's Roles and Responsibilities in Ending
Gender-Based Violence: United Nations INSTRAW-GAINS invites you to
join its collaborative programme. Includes a set of working papers and
an e-mail based Virtual Seminar Series focused on men and ending
gender-based violence. See http://www.un-instraw.org/mensroles/
or send an e-mail to James Lang, jlang@un-instraw.org
The Kabissa-Fahamu eNewsletter: an extremely
useful and detailed free, weekly information service and advocacy tool
for social justice in Africa. For further information and to subscribe
see: http://www.fahamu.org.uk/kfn/index.php
The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) have
launched a useful new website at http://www.kabissa.org/wougnet/.
The organisation's goal is to promote the use of information and
communication technologies by women organisations and individuals for
the better being of Ugandan women.
The ACORD website www.acord.org.uk
is a rich source of information on our work. The site includes:
Information about ACORD; news; summaries of our programmes; staff at
ACORD; links to other organisations and useful resources; the current
inAcord on-line newsletter and past issues; downloadable versions of
our recent publications.
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4. VACANCIES
There are currently two vacancies at ACORD. Both
are key administrative roles.
a) ADMINISTRATOR - PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT. £17,015 per annum
, 
