"Our Agenda is Now on the World's Agenda"

A conference on "World Poverty, World Trade" subtitled "A Critical Phenomenology of World Trade Regulation: Our Agenda is Now on the World's Agenda", will be held 18 and 19 September in the Ballroom of the Walb Student Union at Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne.

The conference schedule includes presentations on Bolivia, Algeria, China, Mexico, Sudanas and India as well as examinations of the role of the World Trade Organization. In addition to faculty from the IPFW campus, speakers are coming from as diverse places as Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the AFL-CIO.

The international conference is being organized by the IPFW Institute for Human Rights and is co-sponsored by the IPFW Philosophy Department, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of Research and External Support, the Doemer School of Business and Management, IPFW Student Government, and the City of Fort Wayne. For information contact Professor Clark Butler, Department of Philosophy, 260:481-6364.

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African Children's Choir to Sing in Greenfield

The African Children's Choir will sing at 9 and 10:45 a.m. 19 July in Brandywine Community Church, 1551 East New Road, Greenfield. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted.

The choir has established schools in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda.

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Visitors from Sudan and Brazil Scheduled

The Global and National Missions Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis will host 12 visitors from two countries next month.

The visitors, from the Bor diocese in Sudan and the Brasilia diocese in Brazil, will be in Indiana 17 June through 7 July. They'll visit Waycross Conference Center on 30 June, and will be hosted by St. Philip's Episcopal Church of Indianapolis for the July 4th celebrations.

Humanitarian Intervention Symposium at DePauw

Noted international humanitarian leaders will come to DePauw University in Greencastle Thursday through Sunday (5-7 March) for a series of panel discussions.

Gareth Evans, the former foreign minister of Australia, will provide the opening address for the Humanitarian Intervention Symposium, hosted by the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics in collaboration with the West Africa Regional Bureau of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Among the others scheduled to participate in the sessions are Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; Catherine Dumait-Harper, board member for the Global Policy Forum and former U.N. representative of Médecins Sans Frontièrs (Doctors Without Borders); Jerry Fowler, executive director of the Save Darfur Foundation; Anne Orford, professor and director of the Institute for International Law and the Humanities at Melbourne University, Australia; and Amos Sawyer, former president of the interim government of Liberia.

For the complete schedule plus details on attending, go online.

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Prendergast to Speak at IU Bloomington

John Prendergast, an American human rights activist currently focusing his activities on genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, violence against women in eastern Congo and atrocities in Chad and northern Uganda, will speak at Indiana University Bloomington at noon on Tuesday (19 February). The presentation in the Oak Room, Indiana Memorial Union, 900 East Seventh Street, Bloomington, is open to the public at no charge.

Prendergast is a co-founder of the Enough Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity that is a joint initiative of the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress. He is co-author of Not On Our Watch (pictured).

His presentation is sponsored by IU's African Studies Program, the Office of the President, Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President of International Affairs.

Workshop on Darfur at Marian College

Concerned about the crisis in Sundan? Consider attending a "Workshop on Darfur" from 6:30-9 p.m. Monday (16 April) in the Allison Mansion on the campus of Marian College, 3200 Cold Spring Road, Indianapolis.

It's sponsored by The Franciscan Center for Global Studies (FCGS) at Marian, and co-sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, American Jewish World Service, Citizens for Global Solutions, Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and Indiana Coalition to Save Darfur.

Designed as a forum for expert discussion that will emphasize audience participation, education, and—most important—taking action, this workshop is for anyone who is concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.

Featured speakers:

Scott LeFevre (left), Catholic Relief Services, Darfur specialist; Joshua Bloom (second from left), American Jewish World Service, Darfur field organizer; Julia Fitzpatrick (third from left), Citizens for Global Solutions, Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow; Anita Sharma (right), ENOUGH, Executive Director."

Hoosiers Welcome Refugees from Darfur

According to the Associated Press, "Hundreds of refugees from Sudan's troubled Darfur region have migrated to northern Indiana to make a new start."

The AP reports that "The nonprofit Web site SaveDarfur lists almost two dozen awareness groups within 150 miles of Elkhart.

Sudanese divestment urged for Indiana

State Senator John Broden (D-South Bend) has authored Senate Bill 380, which would prohibit the investment of funds held by various state entities in institutions that are directly or indirectly involved in business with Sudanese companies, according to the Indiana Senate Democrat Caucus.

Senate Bill 380 would require that any investment of funds held by the public employees’ and teachers’ retirement fund or by a public officer of the state must not be with companies that loan money to, engage in business with or in or have invested in another company engaged in business with or in Sudan or its instrumentalities.

Affected institutions would be given three years to come into compliance with the legislation, according to the press release.

Six other states, including Illinois, have passed Sudanese divestment legislation.

Senate Bill 380 has been assigned to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Public Policy & Interstate Cooperation, where it awaits a hearing.