Rights and Democracy (Montreal), the Latin American Human Rights
Education and Research Network (RedLEIDH) and the Centre for Research on
Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC, Toronto) are pleased to present
a conference:
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ETHNICITY, VIOLENCE AND EXCLUSION IN COLOMBIA:
THE STRUGGLES OF INDIGENOUS AND AFRO-COLOMBIAN COMMUNITIES
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Thursday, March 15, 2007
OISE, 52 Bloor St. W., room to be determined,
7pm - 9pm
Friday, March 16, 2007
Stong College Dining Hall, York University
9am - 6pm
(Please register for the Friday conference in advance by sending an email to cerlac2@yorku.ca, indicating whether you will require Spanish-English translation.)
With a staggering 3 million internally displaced persons and more than 70,000 people killed or forcibly disappeared since the late 1980s, Colombia has been described by the United Nations as having the worst humanitarian crisis in the Americas. Citizen insecurity in Colombia is the result of many complex factors, in particular an internal armed conflict - in existence for over forty years - and a profound social conflict, characterized by deepening levels of poverty, growing inequalities, and deeply rooted economic, social and political exclusion. Colombia's ethnic minorities, in particular its Indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples, have suffered disproportionately from both conflicts to the point that, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, some Indigenous peoples in that country are currently in danger of extinction.
This conference will bring together activists, academics and key representatives of Colombia's Indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples to examine the dramatic situation facing these threatened communities and their proposals for positive change.
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For full program details, go to http://www.yorku.ca/cerlac/news_events.htm#colombia
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PARTICIPATION IS FREE - ALL ARE WELCOME
Directions and map of York University: http://www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/maps/index.htm
Please register for the Friday conference in advance by sending an email to cerlac2@yorku.ca, indicating whether you will require Spanish-English translation.
The Thursday evening event is co-sponsored by the Transformative Learning Centre, (OISE, UofT)