Building peace in Africa

post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation

African Students' Conference 2007

The 9^th African Students' Conference was held on 3 November, 2007 at the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague. The theme of the conference was post conflict reconstruction and reconciliation, and it was organized by the United Network of Young Peace builders (UNOY Peacebuilders) and The African Committee (TAC). The event brought together about 200 participants consisting of African Students studying in the Netherlands, the African Diaspora, Dutch students and NGO representatives.

UNOY Peace builders would like to thank the Sponsors, Oxfam Novib, The Hague municipality, Prince Bernard Cultuurfonds and Woudschoten Foundation; the ISS who hosted the conference and The African Committee (TAC) for helping organise the conference. Special thanks also goes to the speakers and facilitators for their invaluable input to the success of the conference and further, our sincere thanks to the participants who attended the conference.

The conference was addressed by renowned speakers from Africa and Europe. Among the speakers were:

Prof. Rouk De La Rive Box, rector of the ISS. He delivered a speech on behalf of Prof. Mohamed Salih, which was an introduction on post conflict reconstruction and reconciliation.
Mr Pakiso Mochochoko from the International Criminal Court made a presentation on criminal justice in post-conflict reconstruction: the case of ICC.
Mr Teddy Foday-Musa presented on: the case of Sierra Leone.
Mr Luis Okelo on the case of Uganda.
Ms Dorothy Ndungu from the Nairobi Peace initiative presented on practical steps towards reconciliation.

There was also a youth panel that had three speakers who reacted to the main speakers' presentations, they were:

Charles Bwembya from the Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) Southern Africa region;
Sahro Ahmed from Cordaid;
Jaklin Atingo from Watch aid Holland.

After presentations from the speakers, the participants participated in different workshops which consisted of:

Peacebuilding and implementing criminal justice
Women rebuilding post-conflict societies
From child soldiers to Peacebuilders
Is peace possible with or without justice?
Establishing the rule of law: whose responsibility?
Can YOUth make the difference?
Media: fuel for conflict or motor of reconciliation?
Religion: a vehicle for peace?
The role of Diaspora in Peacebuilding

The full day seminar was too rich to summarize fully on this page therefore please visit our website again in the early spring of 2008 to find the full report. For more information on the ASC you can also contact UNOY Peacebuilders.