Boniface Cheembe — Zambia

In their own words 

"As far as I have been told, SACCORD’s formation was motivated by the horrors of war witnessed in East Timor by some Zambians who were attached to the United Nations Peace keeping missions in 1998. These events in East Timor made them realize the importance of peace and the need to prevent conflict in Zambia upon their return. Furthermore, there was a growing significance of armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa and the focus on promoting human rights became paramount. SACCORD was formed in 1999 as a Zambian based organisation with a both a national targeting Zambia and a regional focus targeting the Southern African region."

Organization: The Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes

Location: Lusaka, Zambia

Mission: SACCORD is a Zambian based NGO that promotes peace and democratic governance for the people of Zambia through peace building, strengthening local democracy, nurturing local and regional partnerships as well as holding duty bearers accountable for better service delivery.

Vision: Its vision is a world where there is democracy, justice, peace and human security. Under the 2014-2018 SACCORD strategic plan the organization has the following key programme areas:

• Peacebuilding Programme (PP)
  • Promoting dialogue and conflict management
  • Generating and facilitating the dissemination of information on peacebuilding and conflict management
  • Raising awareness among the people of Zambia on the prevailing conflicts within the region and the available mechanisms for resolving these conflicts
  • Advocating for a political culture that embraces tolerance and peace
  • Promoting the construction of peace constituencies that contribute towards maintaining and sustaining peace in Zambia and the sub-region
  • Working with the media to play a pivotal role in conflict management by increasing dialogue forums through the media
  • Information sharing with other partners in the sub-region and the national level regarding peace and security

• Accountability and Good Governance (AGOGO)
  • Strengthening oversight mechanisms by monitoring most national governance processes through budget, legislative and policy tracking
  • Advocating for the rule of law by championing constitutional and legal reforms
  • Promoting information sharing by engaging with various parliamentary committees
  • Advocate for effective institutions to enhance good governance by monitoring the accountability of duty-bearers through budget tracking
  • Promote citizen awareness on governance so as to enhance the prudent management of public resources
  • Promote democracy by ensuring that citizens understand their civic and voters rights
  • Monitor elections and electoral reforms

• Access to Justice and Human Rights Programme (HRJAP)
  • Advocate and promote people’s human rights and providing human rights education
  • Monitor and document human rights violations
  • Monitor and track human rights instruments in Zambia
  • Produce annual human rights publications and hold annual human rights lectures

• SACCORD Activities
  • Profiling regional conflicts and promoting dialogue
  • Networking on emerging issues
  • Capacity building for conflict transformation
  • Peace forums
  • Constitutional public forums
  • Legislative and policy tracking
  • Constitutional reform advocacy
  • Civic and voter education
  • Election, human rights and conflict monitoring
  • Monitoring of governance sector of national plans
  • Popularization of the decentralization policy
  • Establishing and maintaining Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Centers (HRCRC)