From the End to the Beginning: Programme

Time: 12. and 13. of may, 10:00 - 17:30
Venue: Dansens Hus, Møllerveien 2, Oslo
Price: Free
Contact: [email protected]

Conference day 1: Monday the 12^th of May

09:00-10:00 Registration and opening

Performance by Inkululeko Choir

10:00-10:20 Poem by Naima Profit Mclean. Welcome by hosts:

Nosizwe Baqwa, Campaign coordinator, ICAN Norway
Tuva Bugge, Africa Advisor, The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO)

10:20-10:40 Change talk 1: Freedom in our time: on partnership and peace

Liv Tørres, General Secretary, Norwegian Peoples Aid

10:40-11:00 Change talk 2 : Civil Society can change the world!

Magnus Løvold, Campaign and advocacy director, ICAN

11:00-12:00 Faith-based struggles for Justice

We hear experiences from the anti-Apartheid struggle from both Norway and South Africa: What role did the churches play? What were the strengths and what were the challenges of cooperation between Norwegian and South African churches? What role did/does faith play? What crucial lessons can we learn from this time in the face of minority rule in various contexts today?

Rev. Dr Trond Bakkevig, Acting bishop of Oslo Diocese, Church of Norway
Moderator: Jan Speed, Journalist

LUNCH 12:00-13:00

13:00-14:15 Panel 1: Dismantling the South African Nuclear Weapons Programme

South Africa stands today as the only country in the world that has dismantled it’s own nuclear weapons programme. In this section we will look into the moral and political implications of this and how this can feed into the humanitarian disarmament initiative.

Ms TDG Molaba, Acting Chief Director: United Nations (Political), at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) of South Africa
Gro Nystuen, Managing Partner, International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI)
Noel Stott, Project Manager, Development and the Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction, Institute for Security Studies (ISS)
Moderator: Thomas Nash, Director, Article 36,

COFFEE BREAK 14:15-14:30

14:30-15:45 Panel 2: Civil Society’s role in the anti-Apartheid movement and beyond: challenges and opportunities

This thematic section will endeavour to unpack the realities of North-South cooperation. What can we learn from previous international cooperation that contributed to the process that ended Apartheid? How can this feed into our understanding of the relationships needed in the face of struggles against minority rule in various contexts today?

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Executive Director and founding member, Embrace Dignity, South Africa
Anne-Marie Helland, General Secretary, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)
Iina Soiri, Director, The Nordic Africa institute (NAI)
Busi Dlamini, Independent Consultant, South Africa
Magnus Løvold, Campaign and advocacy director, ICAN
Moderator: Lindy Mtongana, television news anchor, columnist, Africa Division of eNCA (E News Channel Africa)

COFFEE BREAK 15:45-16:00

16:00-16.30 Greetings from the Norwegian Government

State Secretary Hans Brattskar

16:30-16:45 Closing remarks by hosts and poem by Naima

-END OF DAY ONE-

Conference day 2: Tuesday 13^th of May

09:00-10:00 Registration and opening

10:00-10:10 Opening remarks by hosts

10:10:10:40 Change talk 4: Norwegian and South African history and cooperation

Thorvald Stoltenberg

10:40-12:00 Panel 4: Panel 1 Trade Unions

The active engagement of trade unions had a direct impact on the formation and understanding of the anti-Apartheid movement, as well as nourishing an organised, international solidarity. We unpack this powerful movement from a local, national and international understanding.

Liv Tørres, General Secretary, Norwegian Peoples Aid
Jay Naidoo, Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Partnership Council of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Tor-Arne Solbakken, Vice-President, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO)
Pekka Peltola, Researcher, NAI
Moderator: Peter Fabricius, Journalist

LUNCH 12:00-13:00

13:00-14:00 Panel 3: 20 years of Democracy in South Africa

- Who we are, Who we have become, Who we are going to be

A nation victorious, South Africa stands stall on the shoulders of giants, as a country that won over its own struggles and regained freedom for all her people. The economy is the largest and most developed in Africa, yet, the country also stands today as one of the most economically imbalanced countries in the world, with high unemployment rates, high crime rates and even greater frustrations.

A democracy 20 years young, we examine how the transition from Apartheid to Democracy occurred. What went right, and what went wrong? What is the situation today, and where does one find solutions now and in the future?

Busi Dlamini, Independent Consultant, South Africa
Kwezilomso Mbandazayo, Projects officer, One in Nine Campaign
Nnikelo Maxwell Ndabankulu, Executive Member, Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM),Shack-dwellers' movement
Jay Naidoo, Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Partnership Council of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Moderator: Marianne Millstein, Senior Researcher, NAI

COFFEE BREAK 14:00-14:15

14:15-15:45 Panel 6: THE YOUTH INDABA

INDABA = “A council or meeting of indigenous peoples of Southern Africa to discuss an important matter”

Lindy Mtongana, Television news anchor
Ingrid Rostad, Leader, Norwegian People's Aid Solidarity Youth
Naima Profit-Mclean, Artist
Justice Mukheli, blogger, I See A Different You
Inneocence Mukheli, I See A Different You
Vuyo Mpantsha, I See A Different You
Emil André Erstad, President, Norwegian Young Christian Democrats
Hanne Sofie Lindahl, Vice President, Changemaker
Jørn Wichne Pedersen, Leader, Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH)
Moderator: Leo Ajkic, Tv-journalist, Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK)