It gives the ACCA Secretariat great pleasure to address the ACCA community a few days before the 2018 ACCA General Assembly (GA), which will be taking place in Nairobi Kenya. This edition of the ACCA Quarterly Newsletter includes a sneak-peek into what participants can expect from both the side events, and capacity building sessions taking place at this year’s GA, including a participant's thoughts on the 2017 ACCA GA..

It is the first time that the ACCA GA will be taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, and The ACCA is grateful to its partner organisation, the Natural resources Alliance of Kenya (KeNRA) for helping arrange this important event. The promotional video for this year’s GA may be found here. This year’s GA will be guided by community narratives. In this light, the ACCA is honoured to announce that the key note address will be delivered by Ms Raya Ahmed from Save Lamu Community and Ms Hannah Owusu-Koratgeng from Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) respectively. The unique keynote address from two exceptional activists will set the scene for the GA by highlighting the everyday challenges with which communities are faced, and noting what the ACCA can do to help address these problems.

Participants at this year’s ACCA GA can look forward to training sessions from organisations which include: New Media Advocacy Project (NMAP) and Witness, Oxfam, WoMin and the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. The 2018 ACCA GA agenda may be accessed here.

As the ACCA celebrates its 5th anniversary, the ACCA would like acknowledge the progress made for the Coalition to get this far. The ACCA is, however, mindful that the road ahead to living up to its vision, mission and strategy in helping its member organisations and partner organisations to better support African communities and individuals whose human rights are adversely impacted daily by the activities of corporations, both multi-national and domestic.

We hope that you enjoy this edition of the ACCA Quarterly Newsletter and look forward to seeing you in Nairobi, Kenya.

Damian Oakes and Guillan Koko