Preventable Genocide: Who Speaks for Humanity?
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.
Saturday, November 4, 2006
9:00 to 12:30
Fae Bland Auditorium
on the West Campus of Santa Barbara City College
On any given day, hundreds of women in displaced persons camps throughout Darfur can be seen nervously waiting for African Union (AU) troops before venturing outside to collect firewood for cooking. Heavily armed Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, often surround and then attack the camps with the support of Sudan’s military forces. Protecting the 3.5 million people declared at risk by the United Nations—half of the population of Darfur—has become a test case for African peacekeeping.
Unfortunately, Darfur is only the latest example in a long line of genocidal actions. In recent decades the world has witnessed the wholesale slaughter of innocent populations in Cambodia and Rwanda, campaigns of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia, the kidnapping of children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves in East Africa, and the deliberate mutilations of civilians, including children, in Sierra Leone.
For this year’s Fall Forum and United Nations Day conference, the Santa Barbara Coalition for Global Dialogue has chosen the issue of genocide and what the world community can do to stop it. We are fortunate to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr. Orr comes to the United Nations from Harvard University , where he served as the Executive Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government. He has also served as Deputy to Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, and as Director of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington , D.C.
Our consideration of the topic will then be enriched by a panel of speakers. Joining Dr. Orr will be: Dr. Richard Falk, Visiting Distinguished Professor of Global Studies at UCSB and Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University, who will discuss how the legal aspects of genocide; Dr. Manoutchehr Eskandari-Qajar, Professor of Political Science at SBCC, who will offer an Islamic perspective; and who will address the challenges facing humanitarian organizations. Marie Clarke Brill, Acting Co-Executive Director of Africa Action and Director for Public Education and Mobilization, who will join them. David Morris, Professor of History at SBCC will moderate.
This event is a Santa Barbara City College Adult Education program sponsored by the Santa Barbara Coalition for Global Dialogue. Members of the Coalition include the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara, United Nations Association-UNESCO, Global and International Studies program at SBCC, Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies of UCSB, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, PAX 2100 (partial list). The event flyers, posters, and programs are printed by One Source Printing. Funding is from sponsoring organizations, exhibitor fees, and a grant from the League of Women Voters Education Fund and THE PEOPLE SPEAK 2006