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The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, the School of Law, SOAS University of London, the SOAS Centre of African Studies and Cambridge University Press, cordially invite you to the virtual launch of the Journal of African Law (JAL) Special Issue on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (edited by Romola Adeola, Lutz Oette, Olivia Lwabukuna and Frans Viljoen).

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Virtual Launch: Journal of African Law (JAL) - Special Issue on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons

Thursday 29 July 2021
09:00 GMT / 10:00 WAT / 10:00 BST / 11:00 SAST / 11:00 CET / 12:00 EAT
All participants are required to register on Zoom.
The event will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Register on Zoom


Chair 

  • Romola Adeola (Co-editor / Author) 

Introductory comments

  • Lutz Oette, School of Law, Centre for Human Rights Law, SOAS University of London (Co-editor)
  • Frans Viljoen, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (Co-editor / Author) 

Panel discussion 

  • Sara Palacios Arapiles, School of Law, University of Nottingham (Author)
  • Cecile Sackeyfio, School of Education, University of Cape Town (Author) 
  • Olivia Lwabukuna, School of Law, SOAS University of London (Co-editor / Author)  
  • Tresor Makunya, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (Author) 

Q & A Session 

Concluding Remarks 


Background

The African Union (AU) declared 2019 the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa. This was an apt choice, as it provided an opportunity to commemorate two anniversaries: the adoption of the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugees in Africa (OAU Refugee Convention) 50 years ago and of the 2009 AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) 10 years ago.

Arising from a conference held at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, this special issue reflects on the state of refugee and IDP protection in, and across, Africa. The contributing authors analyse and engage with historical developments as well as contemporary challenges and prospects in the field of both refugee law and IDP law in Africa. They also examine the role of Africa’s human rights treaties, namely the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in the context of forced migration.

Refugee law and IDP law are fitting subjects for examination at a time characterized by (the desire for) mobility and forced displacement across Africa and beyond, occasioned by local, regional and global developments. Our contributors have woven together a rich tapestry of the state of law in Africa in a field of growing importance, ranging from the conceptual foundations of regional refugee law and IDP law, legal developments and practices, to evolving challenges and responses.

Overall, this special issue advances critical insights into these instruments, opening space for further discussions on the protection of forcibly displaced populations in Africa beyond the rhetorical celebration of these important 50 and 10-year milestones.

Contacts

For more information, please contact:

Yolanda Booyzen
Communcations and Advocacy Manager
Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
yolanda.booyzen@up.ac.za 
www.chr.up.ac.za 

Moderators:
Dr Elvis Fokala, Manager, Children’s Rights Unit, Centre for Human Rights, UP
Hlengiwe Dube, Manager, Expression, Information and Digital Rights Unit, Centre for Human Rights, UP
 
Introductory remarks 
Dr Nkatha Murungi, Assistant Director, Centre for Human Rights, UP
 
An overview of the laws relating to children’s right to privacy and data protection in the digital sphere in Africa
Prof Julia Nielsen-Sloth, Professor of Law, University of Western Cape 
 
European experience on the child rights to privacy and data protection 
Ms Louise Holly, Advocacy and Policy Consultant on child privacy in the digital sphere
 
The impact of POPIA on children’s rights to privacy and data protection in a digital sphere
Tina Power, Senior Analyst and Attorney, ALT Advisory and Power Singh Inc
 
Contextualising the AU Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection through the lens of Children’s rights to Privacy and data protection in a digital sphere in Africa a 
Ms Opal Sibanda, Legal Researcher, Secretariat, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
 
Discussion 
 
Concluding remarks
Dr Nkatha Murungi, Assistant Director, Centre for Human Rights, UP