International Conference on Reintegration & Rehabilitation


War Child Holland and the Centre for Children in Vulnerable Situations are organising a conference on the theme of rehabilitation and reintegration processes for children and youth affected by war and armed conflict. The conference will be held in Kampala, Uganda from 25th–27th  September 2013. 

With this conference, we want to reflect on “the way forward”, as much evidence already exists, but important gaps in our knowledge and in information sharing still remain: How can transition processes from rehabilitation centres back to communities be built appropriately? How do we need to look at the transition from crisis humanitarian interventions to longer-term developmental aid? Must transcultural aspects be included in programming and support interventions? How can dependency on humanitarian interventions be limited, and how can children, families and communities participate in humanitarian and developmental aid responses? How can we tackle processes of stigmatisation and exclusion? How do we position ourselves within the ‘daily stressors versus trauma’ debate? 

Many of these gaps cannot be approached from single perspectives, and instead need to be viewed from different disciplinary approaches. At this conference, multidisciplinary views will be emphasised, including input from the fields of clinical psychology, social work, transitional justice, human rights, pedagogical sciences, education, global public health, as well as from the field of international advocacy. This multidisciplinary approach will maximise learning and help participants to identify ways forward in their own discipline.  Moreover, interaction between researchers, practitioners, organisations and policy makers might broaden their views on their own approaches, and community based approaches and therefore be highly fruitful.

Key questions are how to bridge the gaps between different perspectives (psychosocial approaches, transitional justice, humanitarian aid, global public health and child protection) and different phases (emergency relief, development aid, international cooperation) regarding the needs of war-affected youths and their contexts.

This conference aims to attract researchers, experts, practitioners and policy-makers from all around the world. This is therefore an excellent opportunity to discuss experiences, challenges, and achievements with people and organisations interested in working with war-affected children from different perspectives and in different countries. These include service providers, researchers, policy makers, community workers and teachers, and there will also be the opportunity to discuss what role child protection plays – or can play – in their work.

In addition, efforts will be made to formulate a set of recommendations for policy makers, practitioners and researchers at the end of the conference, in order to make an impact at the policy level, regarding the rehabilitation and reintegration processes of children affected by armed conflict. This process will begin in the months prior to the event, and culminate in a finalised text of recommendations at the conclusion of the conference, following input from participants.

 

Call for Papers

Papers are welcomed on all issues related to the overall theme of the conference.

Priority themes are:

  • Practices regarding rehabilitation and reintegration processes of war-affected children and communities
  • Culture- and tradition-based therapeutic approaches
  • Ecological and systemic approaches
  • Creative and technical methods, including video and social media
  • Community-building processes / community-based approaches
  • Child participation
  • Psychosocial well-being of war-affected youths, families and communities
  • New and innovative means of providing psychosocial care to children and young people
  • Psychosocial approaches versus trauma-oriented perspectives
  • Impact of collective violence on children, youth, families and communities
  • Perspectives on the interaction and integration of emergency relief and development cooperation
  • Peace and child rights education
  • Transitional and international justice perspectives and practices
  • Processes of stigmatisation, discrimination and exclusion of children affected by war
  • The role of advocacy.

The call for papers closes on February 15th, 2013. Abstracts for papers should be sent to info@centreforchildren.be, with the email title “Kampala Conference 2013”.

 

Abstract format

Abstracts need to be well-structured and count a maximum of 350 words. Abstracts need to be sent in Word- or pdf-format in English, French or Spanish. All contact information, including names and affiliations of all presenters, and address, email and phone of the responsible contact author, need to be mentioned properly. 

Subject to acceptance after editorial and peer review, papers will be included in a journal or book publication. Therefore, all contributors to this conference who would be willing to have their paper published in an international peer-reviewed journal are requested to upload their final paper in a written format by 15 July 2013 to the conference organising committee. Specific author information for these full papers, including length of the paper, will be provided later on.

 

Scholarships

A limited number of scholarships, sponsored by Vlir-UOS Belgium, are available for presenters with accepted papers and who are originating from a country on the Vlir-UOS country list:

  • Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Nepal, Palestinian Territories, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay

Presenters who would like to apply for a scholarship need to send their motivation letter together with their abstract, both of them at latest by February 15th 2013.

  

Awards

During the conference, two awards will be granted, one for the organization (local NGO, international NGO, CBO,…) presenting at the conference a highly interesting contribution in the field of support, rehabilitation, reintegration and/or reconciliation, and one for a young researcher giving  a remarkable research presentation during the conference.

 

Conferences languages 

The overall conference language will be English, including all plenary sessions and the main part of the paper presentations. However, this call for papers is also open for French- and Spanish-speaking participants. If accepted, these presenters will be given the possibility to present during the conference in French or Spanish.

 

Conference fees 

Conference fees are € 150 for persons originating from the Vlir-UOS country list (cf. supra), and € 400 for all other attendees. Conference fees include conference documents, access to all plenary lectures and all workshops, and free meals and refreshments during the conference days. Conference fees need to be paid together with the registration for the conference. Presenters who fail to pay their conference fees will not be included in the final programme. Accommodation and travel costs need to be covered by the participants.

A special website with all practical information, including the conference theme, the programme, registration, travel instructions and accommodation will be launched soon.

Owner: War Child Holland and the Centre for Children in Vulnerable Situations

Countries

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