Conference to celebrate work of peacekeepers

Africa and international peacekeepers will be celebrated at a conference in Galway today.

Dr Noel Kinsella, speaker of the Canadian Senate and international human rights advocate, is among the wide range of international experts addressing the event in the National University of Ireland.

Representatives from Trocaire, the Irish Defence Forces, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Irish Aid and the Liberian Refugee Community will also give keynote speeches at the conference entitles Africa and Peacekeepers: Positive Impact?

A representative of the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Centre, a research centre based in Ghana, West Africa that looks at the causes and subsequent management of conflict and the promotion of peace, will outline its work to the conference.

A major focus of the event will be the Irish mission in Liberia and the current situation in Darfur.

“With Ireland’s tradition of United Nations peacekeeping, it’s involvement in the mission in Liberia coming to an end and the world’s attention focusing on the dire situation in Darfur this conference is timely,” said Dr Ray Murphy, senior lecturer in law at the Irish Centre for Human Rights.

“This event offers a rare opportunity for practitioners, activists, non-governmental organisations, the African community in Ireland, governmental departments and the academic community to discuss policy in relation to Africa and peacekeeping in particular.”

Organised by the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University in conjunction with Amnesty International, and supported by Irish Aid, Department of Foreign Affairs; the conference will address the impact of peacekeepers in general and Irish peacekeepers in particular in Africa.