media releases - Future of Sudan on the cards at Unisa conference

FOUR days have been set-aside for a Unisa-led international conference that would seek to find lasting solutions to the troubled and war-torn Sudan.

The conference, under the theme “The Future of Sudan to 2011 and Beyond:  African Dimensions of Peace, Stability, Justice and Reconciliation”,  will interrogate the future of Sudan from multidisciplinary perspectives in relation to the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) concluded between Sudanese Government and the SPLM-SPLA.

This four days high level academic conference, which is the first of its kind to be held in Africa outside Sudan, will also be addressed by top political leaders from both South Africa and Sudan. It is a collaboration of Unisa’s Centre for Africa Renaissance Studies, led by Prof Shadrack Gutto, and the Sudan Studies Associations

Unisa’s Professor Shadrack Gutto says the aim of the conference is to provide passage for a new process in raising awareness about the Sudan situation and pave way for lasting peace, stability, justice and prosperity of all people in the country and in the region.

“We want to look into what has happened to the CPA since its signature and where it is taking Sudan and Africa. It seeks to interrogate and inform self-determination choices in the CPA as well as the entire country, including the Darfur region. The conference also positions itself within the framework of a medium and long term vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Sudan in which the rights of individuals and all communities will be guaranteed,” says Prof Gutto.

The conference will be held at Unisa from 25 to 28 November 2009.

For more information about the conference, visit  www.sudanconference.org.za.

Issued by: Ms Khabo Maduna

                    Marketing and Communications

                    Unisa:  Centre of African Renaissance Studies

For:             Unisa:  Centre for African Renaissance Studies

                    Director and Chair

                    Prof Shadrack B.O.  Gutto

Contact      Tel:  (012) 320 3180 or 082 064 1428 or 072 806 9622