Concordis Conference in Washington, USA
March 2008

Concordis International organised a one-day conference in Washington, on 6th March 2008, titled: 'Towards a Safer World: Lessons From the Past, New Approaches for the Future: Official and unofficial diplomacy'. The conference was hosted by the Conflict Management Program, School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University. Please see our report from the event here (European A4 format) or here (American Letter Format).

Darfur Consultations
February 2008

Concordis has been working in partnership with the Chairman of the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC) Preparatory Committee, whose role is to facilitate links between Darfurian Civil Society and the formal peace negotiations, to organise and run a series of consultations which address the long term challenges to peace in Darfur. This process is not itself the DDDC, which will only take place once a comprehensive peace settlement has been agreed. Instead, the aim is where possible to build common ground, both to feed the consensus of a wide range of Darfurians into the peace talks, if and when they take place, and to inform policy-makers about factors affecting future peace and stability in Darfur. So far consultations have taken place in Europe and the USA and further consultations are planned for the Middle East, Khartoum, and of course Darfur itself.

Reconciliation Programme with Sudanese Inter-Religious Council
February 2008

Concordis has been working in partnership with the Sudan Inter-Religious Council (SIRC) on a programme for religious leaders, on their role in promoting reconciliation. A very successful consultation in early February 2008 in Khartoum was attended by religious leaders from the various regions of Sudan, including Kordofan and Darfur. The sessions were designed to provide religious leaders with the motivation, skills and resources to encourage reconciliation in their communities, and were supported by various expert consultants, including Rev Bitrus Dangiwa and Imam Mohamed Thani from the Inter-Faith Mediation Centre in Nigeria. The next stage of the process is to organise and facilitate a series of regional training workshops around Sudan.

Easter and Greeting Cards for Peace
February 2008

A Concordis supporter has pledged to donate half of the proceeds from sales of her excellent handmade greeting cards (including several for the Easter season) to our peace-building work. To find out more or to order click here.

Accord publication on Sudan - One Year On
January 2008

The Accord publication on Sudan has now been widely distributed among relevant parties and has been very well received. The publication was co-edited by Mark Simmons and Peter Dixon, and was published under the title Peace by Piece: Addressing Sudan’s Conflicts. This collection of articles examines some of the causes of the country’s conflicts and its recent peacemaking experiences, and asks what remains to be done to build a comprehensive peace. It is available in English and Arabic with accompanying policy briefing paper and can be downloaded here from Conciliation Resources. Launches of the Accord publication have taken place in London, Washington, Khartoum and Juba.