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13 November 2018 Photo Moeketsi Mogotsi
Campaigns are a loudhailer on violence
Kovsies took an active stance against sexual and gender-based violence through various campaigns in October.

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President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that South Africa will launch a national strategic plan to tackle gender-based violence (GBV) after years of lobbying by activists. Speaking at the Presidential GBV Summit, the head of state commended activists who called for a nationwide shut down in August in response to high levels of GBV and femicide in the country. He says the government is now reviewing national GBV plans and will develop a national action plan.

Activism at the UFS

One of the efforts launched by the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Gender and Sexual Equity (GSE) Office in the fight against this plague is the # RESPECTME campaign. From 11 to 26 October 2018, the university held its own 16 Days of Activism.

Geraldine Lengau of the GSE Office believes that minority groups deserve the same amount of respect as all other citizens of this country, which is the core concept of the campaign. “The Campaign is a loudhailer to say, ‘just because I am different from you’, be it gender or sexuality, it doesn’t mean that I deserve any less respect,” she highlighted.

Lengau added: “Activism will forever remain important on our campuses as it creates an environment where the community is made aware of matters that would otherwise not have mattered had they not been publicised. Also activism becomes all the more important in advancing the university’s strategic plan.”

Policies advocating against GBV

As stipulated in the UFS Sexual Harassment, Misconduct and Sexual Violence Policy the university strongly believes in the principle of human dignity that is entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa (1996) which resolves to ensure a safe working and study environment for students. 

Student Affairs also led a campaign which aimed to highlight the ongoing scourge of sexual and gender-based violence, in line with the policy. “The university is working relentlessly at endorsing the aspects and characteristic traits of respect amongst all of its stakeholders in an effort to reduce the notion of gender-based violence,” said the Dean of Student Affairs, Pura Mgolombane.

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International Year of Crystallography attracts science experts from across the globe
2014-10-13



Video: Discover what Chrystallopgraphy can do for you
Video: Celebrating Crystallography: An Animated Adventure

Summit programme

The third world summit in the International Year of Crystallography (in Africa) will be hosted by the UFS Department of Chemistry here on the Bloemfontein Campus. Prof André Roodt, Head of the Department of Chemistry, was elected as the President of the European Crystallographic Association in 2012. Earlier this year he unveiled the Max von Laue 'Plaque' in Posnan, Poland.

The Pan-African Meeting of the International Year of Crystallography consists of a congress and summit. The details are as follows:

Congress
12–15 October 2014
CR Swart Senate Hall, UFS Bloemfontein Campus

Summit
15–17 October 2014
CR Swart Senate Hall, UFS Bloemfontein Campus
Summit opening: Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 14:00 in the CR Swart Senate Hall

This event will be opened and attended by:
•    the UFS Rector and Vice-Rector – Profs Jonathan Jansen and Corli Witthuhn;
•    the acting Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology – Dr Thomas Auf der Heyde;
•    the acting CEO of the National Research Foundation – Dr Gansen Pillay;
•    the UNESCO Vice-Director for Science Extension – Dr Jean-Paul Ngome-Abiaga (Paris, France);
•    the representative of the Executive Committee for the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) – Prof Santiago Garcia-Granda (Oviedo: Spain);
•    the marketing director of the IUCr – Prof Michele Zema (Pavia, Italy);
•    the President of the European Crystallographic Association (ECA) – Prof André Roodt, who will officially open the summit on Wednesday 15 October 2014 from 14:00–15:30.

Presenters from across Africa and Europe will deliver papers at this event which will be attended by more than 100 delegates from twenty-plus countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Russia and India.

Numerous crystallographic research areas will be covered. This includes:
•    powder diffraction,
•    small molecule crystallography,
•    biological crystallography,
•    industrial crystallography,
•    surface crystallography,
as well as techniques such as
•    electron microscopy and
•    synchrotron work.

“At this event we hope to establish an African Crystallographic Association,” said Prof Roodt.

The United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Crystallography. It was recently officially opened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, by the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon.

The International Year of Crystallography celebrates the centennial of the work of Max von Laue and the father and son, William Henry and William Laurence Bragg. More generally, it celebrates what crystallography can do for humanity – which proves to be a significant amount.

 

 


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