Pitt's Ford Institute for Human Security to Present Workshop on Child Soldiers
PITTSBURGH-The Ford Institute for Human Security at the University of Pittsburgh has formed the Child Soldiers Initiative in collaboration with the Centre of the Study of Civil War at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. On Sept. 15-16, it will host a by-invitation-only workshop titled "Building Knowledge About Children in Armed Conflict," at which experts will look at the issue surrounding children as young as nine- and 10-years-old who are involuntarily recruited into armed conflict. Support for the workshop is provided in part by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York through Pitt's University Center for International Studies (UCIS). The Ford Institute is an affiliate of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and UCIS.
The workshop, a follow-up to one hosted in Oslo, Norway, in June, will include representatives of the United Nations, the Northern Uganda Peace Initiative, and Human Rights Watch International; government policymakers; and academics. These experts will continue to evaluate contending explanations of the causes of child soldiering and consider potential policy solutions aimed at reducing the numbers of recruited child soldiers.
Betty Oyella Bigombe, the chief mediator between the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group and the government of Uganda, will be among the participants. Bigombe is internationally known for her work to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers and for negotiating a peace agreement between Uganda and Sudan. Other participants include Jo Becker, the children's rights advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, and Andrew Mack, author of the annual Human Security Report and director of the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia. All experts will be available to the media at the time of the workshop, which will be held in 532 Alumni Hall. For more information about the workshop and media availability, contact Sandra Monteverde at 412-648-7434 or SMonteverde@gspia.pitt.edu.
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8/31/06/tmw
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