He made the above disclosure
during a press conference at the IPRA Secretariat on Lamina Sankoh Street in
Freetown, adding that the conference would be jointly organised by IPRA and the
University of Sierra Leone, with a focus on peace research.
“Sierra Leone will be
showcased by this conference and we are expecting to receive some 600 delegates
from across the world. Receiving 600 foreign nationals is a monumental task,
but with our collective efforts and support from partners, we hope that the
event will go on peacefully,” he said.
He admitted that when the USL received a proposal
to host the conference, it was hesitantly accepted as the task of hosting such
an event was herculean.He said a lot of work has been done behind the
scene to ensure that the conference goes on smoothly.
Prof. Thompson said 500 papers would be delivered
at the conference and that they would serve as a repository of knowledge as
some would be published, while people, especially the press, would begin to
review, assess, discuss, and diagnose them.
He urged media practitioners to
take advantage of the conference by writing about peace and
the threat to peace,
especially as Sierra Leone is currently being plagued by the menace of clique
members.
Head of Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at Fourah Bay College, University
of Sierra Leone, Madam Memunatu Pratt, who also doubles as coordinator of the
IPRA conference, said progress has been made with regards preparation for the
conference.
She noted that some of
peace building organizations, particularly the German Civil Peace Service,
had confirmed they would pay for all the souvenirs for the conference.
“The World Bank
has confirmed that they are going to pay for the hosting of the event’s
cocktail. We have engaged the National Social Security and Insurance Trust
(NASSIT), which has waived 50 percent of the cost of the Bintumani Conference
Centre. The initial cost was one hundred million Leones (Le100m) per day but we
will now pay two hundred million Leones (Le200m) for the four days conference,” she disclosed.
She added that IPRA has pledged to provide the
lunch for two days, pay for all the international speakers and print the main
brochures that would be used at the event.
“As host country, we
have an obligation to meet some part of the cost of hosting the event. We have
approached government and we are still waiting for them to tell us
whether they will leverage the cost for us,” she said.
She disclosed that already, over 534 excerpts
have been submitted, adding that over 120 international researchers from Japan,
USA, Africa, Israel, and Pakistan have registered and started sorting out their
accommodations for the event.
Registrar of USL, Sorie N. Dumbuya, said
journalists have a major role to play in the forthcoming event and that they
could play a great role in making the public understand the activities of the
University of Sierra Leone.
“On Thursday, I
received an email from our Embassy in Germany that they have received 25
requests for visas to come for the event. They were asking for confirmation,” she said. She called on donor
partners to come on board and give support to the success of the conference.
Chairperson of the IPRA
Conference Committee, Mrs. Bernadette Cole, said media outlets should provide
time and space for the promotion of the forthcoming event, adding thatgovernment was fully aware of what USL
was doing and were providing their support.
No comments:
Post a Comment