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06 November 2023
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Story MBALI MABOEA
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Photo SUPPLIED
The Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Fostering academic growth, collaboration, and inspiration among students and researchers in the field of geography, the Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus recently played host to the Society of South African Geographers Conference (SSAG 2023), which gathered more than 100 students over three days.
Following a five-year hiatus, the three-day conference comprised student proposal presentations in different fields: human geography, environment geography, geoinformatics, and physical geography, divided into breakaway sessions over two days. Furthermore, day three of the annual conference included an excursion to the Basotho Cultural Village and Clarens.
The three-day annual student conference focused on different themes presented by two main speakers. The topic of the first keynote speaker, Dr Mahlomola Daemane, General Manager of the SANParks Arid Research Unit, focused on the contemporary conservation, transition, and relevance of science in policy and decision making.
The second keynote speaker was Dr Felicia Akinyemi, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow affiliated with the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Her work focuses on the intersection of geoinformatics, global change, and sustainability. Dr Akinyemi focused her talk on the integrative geospatial methods and metrics for sustainable land use. She introduced different techniques and metrics and gave students insight in early-career African research.
Speaking about the success of the conference, Nthebohiseng Sekhele, Geography Lecturer on the Qwaqwa Campus and chair of the organising committee, said, “The local organising committee was also very impressed with the quality of presentations from our postgraduate students in Geography, as well as the robust discussions that happened during the parallel sessions in the two days of the conference. We had a positive response of physical and online participation from many universities across South Africa. We are pleased that we have achieved our goal with this conference, which is to inspire the next generation of geographers.”
UFS informs judicial officers about human trafficking
2010-08-11
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At the conference on human trafficking for judicial officers were, from the left: Prof. Johan Henning, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the UFS; Mr Ace Magashule, Premier of the Free State; Chief Justice, Justice S Nqcobo; Mr Andries Nel, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development; and Judge Faan Hancke, acting Judge President of the Free State.
Photo: Stephen Collett |
The Faculty of Law’s Centre for Judicial Excellence at the University of the Free State (UFS) in cooperation with the South African Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s Gender Directorate hosted a conference for judicial officers from the Magistrate’s Courts, the Regional Courts and the High Courts on “Human trafficking: Equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all”.
The Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mr Andries Nel delivered a keynote address at this event. He said that anti-human trafficking legislation would be passed in the near future. Also delivering a key note address at the conference was the Chief Justice, Justice Sandile Nqcobo.
The aim of the conference was to empower judicial officers on the topic of human trafficking. A number of presentations from amongst others Adv. Beatri Kruger from the UFS’s Unit for Children’s Rights served to inform magistrates and judges about the characteristics, causes, the human trafficking process and the consequences of human trafficking on victims. Delegates also discussed the impact of human trafficking on human rights and the comprehensive response to human trafficking with a clear focus on the victims’ rights during criminal proceedings.
This conference was attended by 100 judicial officers from across South Africa.