Mission & Justice

Hana Namrouqa; 23/7/08

Participants at the 28th annual International Arab Children’s Congress (IACC) have announced their recommendations which include the establishment of IACC associations in every participating country. National Centre for Culture and Performing Arts (PAC) Director General Lina Attel said in a ceremony late Sunday that supervisors of previous participating delegations will chair the associations, which will also consist of previous participants. “The associations will help fund and support social and cultural projects with the aim of enhancing knowledge and experience exchange,” Attel, the conference director, said during the event’s closing ceremony, which was attended by HRH Princess Sumaya. The associations will also help empower IACC youth in the decision-making process in their respective countries and boost communication and networking among them. Participants from various Arab and Islamic countries, Europe and the US took part in the week-long event, which opened on July 14, and discussed global issues affecting children and ways to promote cross-cultural dialogue.

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Sharon Gray; 22/7/08

Some years ago four people very close to me died, almost in a row. Writing about it here attracted the attention of a then new grief and bereavement organisation, where I still volunteer. Death is my old friend. Last week we hosted the eighth International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society. Heart-wrenching stories from six bereaved individuals preceded the keynote speakers - psychologists and a social worker with many, many diagrams. These are the two arms of a developing science, well-grounded within the context of the most common sample group: white, middleclass, middle-aged widows in developed countries. (Not much colour among the 680 mostly female delegates from 17 countries attending 174 presentations.)

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