ACORD's area programmes are decentralized and self-managed, operating within organisation wide priorities adapted to the particular context. ACORD is promoting policy and practice changes through a combination of practical activities, research, critical analysis, social action and advocacy. In doing so each area programme benefits from ACORD's organisational capital in terms of knowhow, technical expertise, lessons learnt in other countries as well as ACORD's pan African network for bringing forth issues that require sub-regional or international attention.
At the moment, ACORD has 12 operational area programmes as follows: Angola, Burundi, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Lake Victoria, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sahel I (including Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Guinea), Sahel II (including Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria), Sudan and Uganda.