The EDA Annual Conference 2009

cork | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Wednesday April 01, 2009 20:07 by EDA Cork

Global Resources, Human Rights and the Environment: The Western Sahara Conflict

This year, EDA’s annual conference will draw our attention to the decades-old conflict between the indigenous people of Western Sahara (the Saharawi), the last remaining colony in Africa, and the occupier of two-thirds of their country, Morocco. The Saharawi have spent the last thirty-three years living in refugee camps in Algerian Sahara, a physical and political environment incapable of sustaining human dignity. They are continually confronted with the ongoing issues that surround this conflict: the denial of basic human rights, access to adequate water, to food and shelter; to rewarding employment, and at the core, to the right to self determination, a right determined for them thirty years ago by the International Court of Justice.

EDA’s conference will investigate and challenge aspects of this conflict. Speakers will include Saharawi from the refugee camps, representatives of POLISARIO, the government of Western Sahara, and key international speakers, who together will focus on issues such as food security, gender, the environment, human rights, international law and conflict resolution.

These speakers will include: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD; two representatives from Western Sahara; a member of POLISARIO; Simon Coveney TD; Michael D. Higgins TD (TBC); Tom Kitt TD; Dr Tara Shine, Environmental Scientist and TV Presenter; Professor Willem Van Cotthem, UNICEF Dryland Agricultural Advisor; Dr. Nadia Bernaz (Law Department, Middlesex University); Adam Komorowski (Mines Advisory Group, UK); Mark Mc Loughlin (Journalist/Documentary Film Maker); Jim Loughran (Frontline Defenders); Alice Wilson (Cambridge University)

The 2009 Ethical Development Action (EDA) Conference
Friday 3rd April 2009, 9.00 am– 5.00 pm
Gresham Metropole Hotel Cork, Ireland