Conference Announcement
International Conference: Research for Khoe and San Development

Country: Botswana
City: Gaborone
Venue: University of Botswana-Library
Time : 10-12th September, 2003
Deadline for Abstracts: 1st February, 2003
Pre-registration: 31 March, 2003

Background
For over a century, the Khoe and San peoples in Southern Africa have featured prominently in the research agendas of social scientists globally. Over the last two decades in particular, the development needs and priorities of the Khoe and San peoples have gained a high profile in such research. This has been motivated in part by continued deterioration in the quality of life for the Khoe and San despite decades of development programming as well as the growth of Khoe and San representative organizations in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
A series of conferences have already taken place in the past to address the above issues. These include, the Bleek and Lloyd conference which took place in South Africa in 1991, followed by the: Khoesan Studies: Multidisciplinary perspectives conference which took place in Tutzing, Germany in 1994. The third conference entitled: Khoisan Identities and Cultural Heritage took place in South Africa in 1997.
These conferences covered a wide range of topical issues including language, identity, cultures, economics and politics. Delegates from the University of Botswana and Khoe and San representatives attended the conference in Capetown, and it was proposed that the next conference in the series would be held in Botswana.

Objectives
The overall goal of this conference is to contribute towards the empowerment of the Khoe and San People in Southern Africa through the achievement of the practical objectives outlined below:
To assess the implementation of previous resolutions on Khoe and San development as well as relevant international resolutions, and assist in charting the way forward in Khoe and San development.
To encourage dialogue and facilitate the exchange of ideas between academics, San people, development practitioners and policy makers on issues of Khoe and San development
To allow and encourage Khoe and San peoples to influence the research agendas of academics and government policy agendas
To advance knowledge of development issues facing the Khoe and San
To identify recommendations for policy and targets for implementation with key milestones

Plenary Sessions
It is envisaged that the conference will be organized around thematic sessions. There will be three mornings of parallel sessions, to be followed by afternoon sessions, which will discuss various themes emerging from the papers in the form of policy dialogues. Panel discussions will again bring together academics, Khoe and San representatives, development practitioners, NGOs and government officials to dialogue on pertinent policy issues and make appropriate resolutions and recommendations.

Proposed themes for discussions, with names of organizers and their e-mail addresses, are provided in the table below:

Education: Lucky Tshireletso
Leadership and representation: Gertrud Boden
Language: Herman Batibo
Culture and art: TBA
Health: Alla Moyo
Identity: Henry Bredekamp
Natural resources, conservation and tourism: Maitseo Bolaane
Economic empowerment: TBA
Majority/minority relationships: James Suzman
History and archaeology: Edwin Wilmsen
Gender and human right: TBA

Session organizers are kindly reminded that they will be responsible for collecting papers from presenters, planning sessions and preparing brief summaries of their sessions.

Conference fees
The conference fees are divided into five categories. All fees are presented in Pula (Botswana currency). Rate of exchange: 1US$ approximately 6.27 (Pula).

Southern African student @ P 150
Southern Africa waged @ P 400
Botswana student @ P 40
International student @ P 630
International waged @ P1,255

Conference pre-registration
If you are interested in attending the conference, and wish to receive further details, please fill in the pre-registration form, which is available from the conference website. Please note that all future communication will normally take place by e-mail. It is therefore important that we have your correct e-mail address, and that you keep us posted of any changes.

Completed pre-registration forms should be returned by March, 31st 2003, to:

Keitseope Nthomang
University of Botswana
Private Bag 0022
Gaborone
Botswana
Telephone: (267) 355 5006
Fax: (267) 355 5034

Submission of Abstracts
If you wish to present a paper regarding one of the above themes, please submit an abstract of not more than 300 words and indicate the session you want to join. To be considered, your abstract must be received by the session organizer(s) by February, 1st 2003. Session organizers, in consultation with the convenor, will decide, on the basis of the abstract, whether your paper can be included in the programme.

Local Planning Committee
Coordinator: Onalenna Doo Selolwane
Members: Mike Taylor, Hazel Hudson, Isaac Mazonde, Monageng Mogalakwe, Masego Nkelekang, Rosinah Rakgoasi, Keitseope Nthomang, Chief Mothakaje (rep. Botswana government).

For further announcements please consult the conference website

NB: If you know of anyone else who may be interested in participating in the conference, please either copy this announcement directly to them, or forward their names and contact details to the conference convenor.
Please note that as some details of this announcement are not yet finalized, updates will be circulated regularly.