By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
The University of Sierra Leone (USL) is preparing to host the next conference of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA).
At the University’s first meeting about the conference, on Wednesday at Conference hall of the Administrative Building of Fourah Bay College (FBC), the Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor of FBC said it would be the first time for the University to host a conference of “such magnitude.”
“The issue of the peace discussions is crucial to Sierra Leone since it is a post-conflict country,” said Professor Sahr Thomas Gbamanja.
The IPRA conference will be organised by the Northumbria University in the United Kingdom (UK), Sachariah University in Turkey and the University of Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leonean academic Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, a senior lecturer in Media and Politics at the Northumbria University in the United Kingdom and Secretary-General of IPRA, is the driving force behind USL’s hosting of the conference.
He said at the Wednesday meeting that Sierra Leone had come a long way, emerging from an armed conflict and now was battling to tackle the Ebola outbreak which had “reversed the gains made by the country.”
Dr Shaw told the audience that after the IPRA conference was held in Japan last year, he mobilised efforts of his colleagues in the executive for his home country to host the next conference.
He said that move was intended for early career researchers such as Doctorial students, Peace scholars and students from different institutions in the world to come and see firsthand “the relics of conflict’’ in the country.
Sierra Leoneans would also benefit from the conference, he said.
“The theme of the conference is the Agenda for Peace and Development, as the continent is faced with a lot of development challenges, ‘’ the Northumbria senior lecturer added.
Citing the possible cost of hosting the conference, which he estimated at about $300, 000, based on his experience from the Japan conference, Dr Shaw urged the USL authorities to work very hard to ensure they succeed.
The USL has already set up a committee in this direction. The committee has been divided into eight sub-committees including a fundraising committee.
‘’This is a test case for us and we will do our best,’’ assured Professor Gbamanja, noting that the university had a high calibre of staff that could efficiently serve to ensure this is realised.
Professor Allyson Sesay, Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), who chaired the occasion, said the conference would be one of the most renowned events to be hosted in Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak which has killed about 3, 5000 people in the country appears to pose a threat to potential delegates and this was acknowledged by Dr Shaw who said the fear of contracting the virus was still in the minds of key participants and that such fear might prevent them from travelling to the country.
He told the audience that if the Ebola virus remained in the country till November next year, “the committee would be left with no option but to hold the conference in either Ghana or in Kenya.”
IPRA came into being out of an idea that emerged in the Quaker international conferences and Seminars in Clarens, Switzerland in August, 1963. It had the main objectives of encouraging multidisciplinary peace research, fostering cooperation to promote world peace and security.
The association also aimed at strengthening collaboration between peace researchers and policy makers in several countries. It currently has 24 commissions including the Human Rights, the Non-Violence, the Peace and Transitional Justice commissions.
IPRA, which meets biannually, incorporates members from different research institutes in various countries, and it has a consultative status in the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations with a strong relationship with the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
(C) Politico 30/07/15
