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Online participation: International Interdisciplinary Security of Land Tenure Conference

03 May 2024 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Supplied

The Law Faculty is excited to host the International Interdisciplinary Security of Land Tenure (IISLT) Conference and extends an invitation for broad online institutional engagement in the event. Participants are encouraged to register early to secure their virtual presence and bookmark the link, which grants access throughout the conference days from 6 to 8 May 2024.

Conference Link

See the attached final conference programme.

Conference Programme

The University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with esteemed research partners, will host the IISLT Conference scheduled for 6-8 May 2024 on the Bloemfontein Campus, Equitas Building. The conference aims to address the pervasive issue of insecure land rights plaguing rural communities in South Africa, despite constitutional safeguards and landmark legal decisions.

Transforming the rural land economy

Under the theme Transforming the rural land economy: the creation of secure land rights for the enhancement of rural livelihoods and sustainable development, the conference seeks to explore solutions to the complex challenges surrounding land tenure security.

Dr Anthea-Lee September-Van Huffel, Lecturer in the UFS Department of Private Law and a member of the IISLT Planning Committee, emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to address land tenure security issues. She stated, "Security of land tenure requires an interdisciplinary approach that is conscious of the intersectionalities between property, environmental law and conservation, customary law and succession, gender and traditional practices, natural resources and socio-economic rights, development, agriculture and land reform, poverty, politics and governance. It is time for innovative holistic rights-based solutions."

The conference proudly collaborates with international and national research partners such as Anglia Ruskin University in London, England; Imo State University in Owerri, Nigeria, the National University of Lesotho's United Nations Development Programme Human Rights Chair, Lesotho; the Law Faculty of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria; the University of Stellenbosch, Department of Private Law, and the Free State Centre for Human Rights. Other closely associated research collaborators are Public Affairs Research Institute and the UFS Centre for Development Studies.

The International Interdisciplinary Security of Land Tenure Conference presents a unique platform for stakeholders to engage in critical discussions, share insights, and propose innovative solutions towards securing land rights for rural communities and fostering sustainable development. Join us for this pivotal event aimed at transforming the rural land economy for the betterment of society. The conference is strongly aligned with Vision 130 and the Sustainable Development Goals (8) Economic growth, (10) Reduced inequalities, (11) Sustainable communities, and (15) Life on land.

Contact information:

For general enquiries, contact Riekie Viljoen via email at viljoenr@ufs.ac.za.

News Archive

Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings

2007-06-29

Trafficking in Human Beings:
National and International Perspectives

Date: 17th August 2007
Address: CR Swart Auditorium, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Every year thousands of children and adults become victims of trafficking and abuse in South Africa and throughout the southern African region. Victims are trafficked for a myriad of reasons: sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography; illegal labour, including child conscription; domestic servitude; illegal adoptions; body parts/organs; and forced marriages.

The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department of Criminal and Medical Law, University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Centre for Continuing Legal Education at UFS, will host a Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. The conference will bring together key role-players from the South African government as well as crucial international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a serious violation of the human rights of the victims, as well as an extremely profitable source of income to organized crime, and needs the attention and intervention of both governmental and non-governmental institutions in South Africa.

Speakers will include representatives from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Law Reform Commission, the Unit for Children’s Rights-UFS, and NGOs Molo Songololo and Terre Des Homes, that work with child trafficking victims in South Africa and around the world.

The media are invited to report on the conference, and interview speakers and presenters Attached find programme. For more info contact the following persons.

1. Beatri Kruger - 051 401 2108 / email: krugerh.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
2. Susan Kreston - 051 401 9562 / email: krestons.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
3. Elizabeth Snyman – 051 401 2268 / email: snymane.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za

Programme

Trafficking in human beings:
National & international perspectives

Presented by The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department Of Criminal & Medical Law , Faculty of Law, in Conjunction with The Centre for Continuing Legal Education, University of the Free State.

Funded through the Generosity of the United States Department of State

17 AUGUST, 2007 – CR SWART AUDITORIAM

8:00-8:30 Registration & Tea
8:30-8:45 Opening & Welcome
Prof. JJ Henning, Faculty of Law
8:45-9:40 Overview & Global Perspective
Prof. Susan Kreston - Unit for Children’s Rights, Faculty of Law-UFS

9:40-10:00 TEA

10:00-10:45 International Perspectives & the Role of Organized Crime in Trafficking
Wiesje Zikkenheiner, Associate Expert
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, Pretoria
10:45-11:45 Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking
Marija Nikolovska, Project Officer
International Organization for Migration, Pretoria

11:45-12:30 LUNCH

12:30-1:15 Prosecuting Trafficking Without Trafficking Laws
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba, Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria
1:15-2:15 Recommendations for New Legislation in South Africa
Lowesa Stuurman - South African Law Reform Commission, Pretoria

2:15-2:30 TEA

2:30-2:50 The Role of Terre Des Homes in Fighting Trafficking in Children
Judith Mthombeni– Terre Des Homes, Pretoria
2:50-3:50 Trafficking in Children in South Africa – A Front Line Perspective
Patrick Solomon - Molo Songololo, Cape Town
3:50-4:00 Closing Remarks
Adv. Beatri Kruger
Department of Criminal & Medical Law - UFS

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