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17 November 2022 | Story Valentino Ndaba
Dr Catherine Namakula
Dr Catherine S. Namakula, Senior Lecturer of Public Law at the UFS and Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Council's Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

During the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), the plight of children of African descent was a main topic of conversation. The conversation was led by Dr Catherine Namakula, Senior Lecturer of Public Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) and Chairperson of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (WGEPAD).

On Monday 31 October 2022, in New York, she presented the group’s yearly report, titled ‘Children of African Descent’ to the third committee of the General Assembly. Dr Namakula urged the UN and other stakeholders to avoid using photos of African children and children of African descent in deplorable situations for fundraising and marketing purposes. She stated that "children of African heritage are not synonymous with poverty".

Some of the issues discussed at the meeting included conflicts of law with regard to children of African descent, their disproportionate criminalisation, the intense policing of their families and homes, the racial conditioning of their education, and the use of images of them in degrading circumstances in UN and other stakeholder messaging for marketing and fundraising.

The Working Group recommended the creation of a racial justice index to assess how well states are performing and making progress in improving the well-being of children of African heritage. South Africa was one of the nations that intervened to affirm the report. Among the countries that affirmed other related issues were Russia, Cameroon, China, and Syria.

Dr Namakula also had private meetings with the leaders of the World Council of Churches, UN Women, UNICEF, and other UN agencies to talk about human rights-based approaches to programming aimed at mainstreaming racial justice in their work.

 

African Commission on Human and People’s Rights

In addition, Dr Namakula headed the WGEPAD team to the 73rd regular meeting of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. She made a statement at the session that brought attention to the opportunities for and necessity of African civil society participation in the work of the Working Group and the UN anti-racism machinery. She made reference to the 'Declaration on People of African Descent' being drafted, to which they may add African perspectives.

Dr Namakula also called attention to the precarious status of victims of modern forms of enslavement, torture, and exploitation in the Middle East and Gulf States, emphasising the important role of civil society in documenting and publicising the tales of vulnerable victims. She emphasised the need for work on the reparations agenda to start right now in order to document Africa's claims and create the necessary institutional and normative frameworks.

She added that efforts are under way to have the UFS Faculty of Law serve as the academic alliance's anchor for the reparations agenda in Africa.

News Archive

School of Medicine boasts with a new unit
2013-02-22

 

New Clinical Skills Simulation unit is one of its kind.
Photo: Supplied
22 February 2013


The Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS) can now boasts with a new Medical Clinical Skills Simulation unit (MCSU) at the School of Medicine.

This newly established Clinical Simulation Unit is the first dedicated clinical simulation unit of its kind in South Africa. It was opened on Thursday 21 February 2013.

This facility is equipped with an operating theatre, Intensive Care Unit, two simulation and three private rooms.

In addition, the Unit has control rooms with cameras for recording purposes and debriefing facilities, the latter with video equipment for playback of recorded scenarios.

The Simulation Unit at the UFS’ School of Medicine is based on accredited units in the USA and the UK.

Dr Mathys Labuschagne, Head of the Simulation Unit, says the concept for this kind of unit is still new, but is already a very important part of clinical skills training in the health professions.

“We are the only university in South Africa with a unit dedicated to clinical skills simulation only and not a combination of clinical skills training which includes some simulation.”

The primary goal of the MCSU is to provide educational opportunities to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, as well as opportunities for other healthcare students in the Faculty of Health Sciences, to be exposed to inter-professional skills training. The MCSU will play a role in quality assurance of training and assessment, as well as research.

The aim of the Clinical Simulation Unit is to provide a facility where medical and other healthcare students or professionals can be exposed to:

  • Training in a safe environment.
  • Training without harm to the patient.
  • Scenario-based learning.
  • Debriefing.

The facility will also be utilised for post-qualification refresher and training courses.

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