March 7, 2009
9:00 am - 12:00 pm at Stanford Law School
Registration & continental breakfast at 8:30 am in Classroom 190

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm at Santa Clara University
In the Daly Science Center, Building 211, Room 207, Santa Clara, CA 95053

See below for additional dates & locations.

The Children of War Symposium is an effort organized by the American Red Cross across educational and non-profit institutions in Northern California to educate local communities about the psychological and physical effects of war on children. Efforts being used to alleviate the plight of children will be discussed. The American Red Cross brings together internationally known speakers who have lived and worked in war zones to share their experiences and speak on the humanitarian response to aid children of war, child soldiers, family tracing and reunification, genocide and the conditions of refugee camps.

Program

• Michael Khambatta: International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), Deputy Head of Regional Delegation, US & Canada
  Dr. Khambatta will speak on the role of the ICRC as a humanitarian organization that responds to aid victims of war.
• Dr. Marc Sommers: Associate Research Professor of Humanitarian Studies, Tufts University
  Dr. Sommers will address issues related to child soldiers including forced migrations, rehabilitation, policy changes and psychological trauma.
• Dorothy Oteto-Sewe: Tracing Specialist and former Refugee Camp Resident
  Ms. Oteto-Sewe will talk about her experience as a refugee, how she came to develop a family tracing program to help reunite families displaced by war, and what kind of difficulties are encountered in placing orphaned or unidentified minors.
• Dr. Ashis Brahma: Sole Doctor for Darfur refugee camp in Chad for 2 years
  Dr. Brahma will talk about the conditions he experienced working as the sole doctor in a refugee camp in Chad of 27,000 Darfur refugees including how to treat major illnesses when you do not have access to medicine.  He is eager to start a dialogue with the medical community to help make changes happen.
• Meghan Frank: Senior at Granby High School and winner of the Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Award for putting together Operation Pen & Pencil, a program that provided school supplies for students in Afghanistan.
  Meghan will share how she became involved in the effort to help children affected by war through Operation Pen & Pencil.

The program at Stanford University will be moderated by Barbara Olshansky, Visiting Professor of Human Rights and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School.

Click here for speaker bios.

Additional Dates & Locations

The American Red Cross has strategically organized the Symposium to take place at 5 venues throughout Northern California to maximize public exposure to the issue surrounding children of war.
Please click here or visit www.arccarmel.org for further information on attending the Symposium at any of the other venues listed below.

Friday, March 6:

• 9am - 1pm — Santa Cruz Area High Schools (for students only)
• 2pm - 4pm — University of California, Santa Cruz
• 7pm - 9pm — Monterey Institute of International Studies

Registration

Please register here by February 28, 2009 to secure a seat at the Stanford and Santa Clara University venues.

Maps & Directions

• Directions to Stanford Law School
• SLS Parking Map

Sponsors

The program at Stanford Law School is sponsored by:

• American Red Cross Chapters of Carmel,  Monterey and Silicon Valley
• Mills International Human Rights Clinic
• John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law
• Stanford International Human Rights Law Association
• Promoting Women's Health & Human Rights
• Children's Public Health Initiative Organization of International Health, School of Medicine
• Center for African Studies
• Stanford Amnesty International
• Muslim Student Awareness Network
• Sub-Saharan Orphans and Vulnerable Children Working Group, The International Initiative