John Prendergast and Senator Mobina Jaffer will address the atrocities and human rights abuses, which include the raping and displacement of women and children in these conflict-ridden regions. The speakers also will comment on their individual roles in the signing of the North/South peace deal in Sudan, the perceived impact of the peace agreement on the crisis in Darfur, and speak to the challenges facing the international community.

Prendergast has worked as special advisor to the Department of State during President Clinton's administration and as director of African Affairs for the National Security Council. He has strived to shape the United States' foreign policy toward Africa, having worked for several years on conflict resolution in that part of the world. He currently is the special adviser to the president of the International Crisis Group, an organization that works to prevent crisis all over the world and which seeks to influence government policies through its analyses and suggestions.

Mobina Jaffer is the Canadian senator representing British Columbia and the Canadian government’s special envoy for the peace process in Sudan. She is active in women’s issues and chairs the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace, and Security. This committee works to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for the participation of women in conflict resolution, recognition of the impact of war on women, and recommendation of gender-sensitive training for individuals involved in peace efforts. Jaffer also works to promote peace in the Middle East and to highlight the plight of Iraqi and Afghani women.

Prendergast and Jaffer were invited to speak at the second annual Diversity Workshop at the request of Chioma Ugochukwu, a journalism and mass communications professor at USC Upstate and founder of the Diversity Workshop.

“I started the workshop last year with the aim of inviting experts from different disciplines to address the campus and the Upstate community on serious issues that will lead to the promotion of peace, understanding, and diversity,” Ugochukwu said. “This year’s guests have extensive backgrounds and expertise in peace building and human rights promotion.”

This year’s workshop is co-sponsored by Leon Wiles, vice-chancellor for Student and Diversity Affairs; Regis Robe, director of the Center for International Studies; York Bradshaw, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Jim Brown, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Claire Wofford, director of the Center for Women’s Studies and Programs; and Carly Schiano, director of Student Life.

For more information, call Ugochukwu at 52-5352.

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