7/16/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University's Institute for the African Child will host its first international and interdisciplinary conference, "The Children of Africa: Resources for Learning, Health and Society," on the Athens campus June 16 to June 19. More than 200 participants from the United States, Europe and at least 10 African countries will attend the conference.
Unity Dow, a Botswana High Court justice and children's rights activist, will present the keynote speech at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, in Irvine Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Among the issues to be addressed at the conference are child soldiers, apartheid, child health and survival and educational reform. Issues related to music, dance, art and the media also will be discussed. "A significant part of our cultural heritage in the United States is from Africa, and the university is showing a leadership role by addressing an important global problem that has particular resonance in this country," said African Studies Director Stephen Howard, who oversees the Institute for the African Child. Ohio University's history of service to Africa dates to the 1950s when faculty members participated in several African development projects, including the founding of a Nigerain teacher training college.
The institute was established last year by the Ohio University Board of Trustees to foster collaboration in arts and sciences, communication, health and human services, medicine and education. By focusing on African children, the institute plans to highlight issues such as nutrition, development and education. The university's goal is to create an institute in Africa with a similar mission, Howard said.
"The child is a niche as well as a very holistic approach to get to Africa," Howard said. "The child means family, the child means the future, the child means community."
With links to the University of Ghana, the Ministry of Health in Kenya, the University of the Western Cape in Capetown, South Africa, the Ministry of Education in Swaziland and a small village in Ghana, the institute has several avenues for addressing concerns about Africa's children.