Fredson Guilengue interviews historian Professor Malyn Newitt
Bringing together minds and experts on regions like Lebanon, Syria, East-Timor, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Columbia, the conference aimed to address the assumption that most conflicts are rooted in socio-economic causes that usually continue to be relevant during and after the conflict.
Social and transformative justice can be understood as notions of equal, fair, and just opportunities and relationships in a society, and using peacemaking as a response to social conflicts, respectively.
Presentations ranged from a focus on the links between war and capitalism, to local struggles for social and transformative justice in the regions mentioned above. “Shrinking spaces” in civil society were discussed, which relate to the reduction of social rights – for example, freedom of assembly becoming limited or withheld by restrictive states, or rights of self expression being refused by conservative ideologies in government. The economics of war and post-war economies was presented, and the conference was fittingly concluded with a discussion on the different concepts of civil conflict resolution.
An excursion to Tripoli’s International Fairgrounds provided a surreal lesson in the seemingly everlasting effects of conflict on society. The fairgrounds had been developed to host large-scale expositions, highlighting the confidence in Lebanon’s strategic position as a bridge to the Middle East. Although parts of the fairgrounds are used occasionally today, with the onset of Lebanon’s civil war, the vast complex, a concrete wonderland designed by Oscar Niemeyer, never made it to completion.
The Lebanon Pavilion at Tripoli’s International Fairgrounds
Martyrs’ Square, Beirut
Early morning in Beirut
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees hosted a joint public outreach event at the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre on the topic of “Ending Statelessness”. The event discussed the legal and social implications of this important issue which affects an estimated 10 million people globally. In this paper, Sikho Luthango reports on what was discussed at the event.
Ending Statelessness
Wednesday 13th June 2018, 17:00 – 21:00
Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre – 1 Ducombe Road, Forest Town
A stateless person is not necessarily a refugee. Statelessness goes far beyond migration, and effects millions of people around the world.
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and United Nations Commissioner for Refugees invite you to a public outreach event hosted at the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, to raise awareness about the issues surrounding statelessness and to explore the available solutions to address this global challenge from legal, political, and social perspectives.
Kindly see the concept note for speakers and further information.
RSVP dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za, 011 640 3100
