'Just Peace?' Conference, 24-28 April

the confirmed details for the 'Just Peace?' conference which will take place from 24 - 28 April are now available. Below is a media release (combined from two) which describes the context of the conference. You can get your conference details and registration form as follows :

1) if you are on the PMA mailing list, you will receive one in the post with our next mailing in the next few weeks;

2) we can email attachments to you with conference information and a registration form (Word 97), and the programme (Excel);

3) the conference website will be (we are assured !) updated in the next few weeks with all the relevant information, so you could keep checking that at http://www.massey.ac.nz/~justpeac/

Please note - 25 February is the cut off date for 'early-bird' registration (at NZ$340), for applications for registration-fee subsidies (for residents of Aotearoa/NZ only, sorry), and for the submission of abstracts for presentations.

If you wish to get in touch with the organisers directly, you can contact them as follows :

* Registration matters - Ms Christine Payne, Convention Management, PO Box 2009, Auckland, fax (09) 520 0718, christinep@cmsl.co.nz

* Administration matters - Dr Warwick Tie, College of Humanities and Social Science, Massey University, Private Bag 102 904, North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland, fax (09) 443 8716, W.J.Tie@massey.ac.nz

Media release (combined)

JUST PEACE? is an international conference hosted by the College of Humanities and Social Science to be held at Massey University's Albany Campus from April 24-28 2000. Worldwide interest is already high, with inquiries for its 300 places arriving from South Africa, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Ghana, Georgia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Israel, USA, the UK, Canada and Australasia.

Prospective delegates represent peace-making across a broad range of fields including interventions with interpersonal violence, violence against women and children, familial conflict, youth and adult criminal justice, industrial and commercial roles, employment relations, ethnic relations, and international peacebuilding.

Planning for the conference has been driven by people with interests in restorative justice and the politics of dispute resolution, says Dr Warwick Tie of the College of Humanities and Social Science. Judge Fred McElrea of the Auckland District Court approached Albany last year to ask Massey University to host the conference and the idea has since mushroomed.

The project is broad-based, bringing together people working in many different forums to exchange ideas. Peace making and peace building will be explored across a broad spectrum, from family violence to international peacekeeping, with the ultimate aim of facilitating international networks that exchange knowledge and experience.

Speakers include Sir Paul Reeves, Dame Te Ata Rangikaahu, Sir Michael Hardy Boys, Terrance O'Brien, Professor Roger Clark (Board of Governors Professor at the Rutgers University School of Law, Camden, New Jersey), and Dr Howard Zehr (Professor of Sociology and Restorative Justice, Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia, USA).

There is a strong emphasis on the participation of all delegates. Dr Tie sees that the conference's interactive workshops and 'focus groups', in which practitioners discuss their experiences in light of speakers' presentations, as being vital to the success of the event.

A significant dimension of the conference will be the involvement of artists, poets and writers. These fields are increasingly being seen as offering important contributions to peace making and the transformation of socially harmful conflict, says Dr Tie.

Funds are available to subsidize participants who work in grass-roots organisations, for whom conference fees are a barrier to their attendance.

The organisers will, also, act as brokers for delegates seeking funds.

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