A global conference in Uganda set to explore issues of children deprived of their liberty within the justice systems in Africa
7 NOVEMBER 2011 ADDIS ABABA : Together, the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), a leading advocate on policy and dialogue on children in Africa, and Defence for Children International (DCI), a non- governmental organisation that promotes and protects children’s rights on a global, regional and local level, hosted a major international conference on child justice in Kampala, Uganda on 7-8 November 2011.
Over 300 delegates from all over the African continent and the wider world attended the “Deprivation of Children’s Liberty as a Last Resort”, which was held at the Speke Resort and Conference Centre in Kampala, Uganda.
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Dr Ruth Farrugia is an advocate and senior lecturer in the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta. She studied at the University of Malta, University of Strasbourg, Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies and Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Tribunal. She has served as consultant to the deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Policy, Minister for Family and Social Solidarity and the Social Affairs Committee in Parliament, presenting Malta’s report before the UN Committee on the CRC.
Dr Farrugia is a former member of the National Family Commission and chairperson of the Malta Emigrants and Refugees Commission and consultant at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR. She was chairperson of the Children Care Orders Board and was commissioned to draft the Children Act, Commissioner for Children Act and Gender Equality Act for Malta.
Dr Farrugia was responsible for the introduction of Child Law and Gender Law within the Faculty of Laws and currently coordinates their teaching together with Family Law at the University of Malta. She is legal consultant to the Commissioner for Children, country expert to the Comparative European Family Law Commission, the Common Core in Family Law Group, the Euro-Med Human Rights Group and a Vice President of the International Academy of Jurisprudence of the Family. She has served as expert to the PRMIII Experts Group of the European Commission as well as the Council of Europe Expert for the Child Access to Justice Initiative.
She has published widely in the field of family law, child law and human rights.
Advocate Bience Gawanas is currently the Commissioner of Social Affairs of the African Union Commission. Since her return from 12 years of exile in 1989, Advocate Gawanas has served in different capacities in Namibia including being a member of the Public Service Commission and the Ombudswoman. She has been a gender law lecturer at the University of Namibia, a Member and a Chairperson of the Law Reform and Development Commission as well as a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Namibia. She was a teacher in SWAPO’s exiles’ centres in Angola, Cuba and Zambia. Since 2003, she has been Commissioner for Social Affairs at the AUC.
Commissioner Gawanas has recently been honoured as one of the world’s top 100 most inspiring people delivering for women and girls, especially for her work in mobilizing Africa to support women’s health and equality.
The honour was bestowed by Women Deliver, a US based organisation that works globally to generate political commitment and financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal 5, i.e. to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health.