Organising Partners



The First IPC

The First IPC held in May 2004 was on the theme The African Child and the Family. It was attended by world-class experts and well over 300 participants representing governments, child rights and youth organizations from around and outside Africa. There was a distinguished caste of speakers which included our own Chair of the International Board of Trustees Dr Salim Ahmed Salim, Former Prime Minister of Tanzania and Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU); Prof Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the AU Commission; the world-renowned political economist and international civil servant, Professor Sir Richard Jolly; former Nigerian Minister of Finance and Executive Secretary of the UN ECA Prof. Adebayo Adedeji; Chairman of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Prof. Jaap Doek; and the well-known human rights advocate (and TIME’s 100 most influential persons choice) Stephen Lewis, to mention only a few. This conference resulted in drawing attention to the key role of the family in impacting on child wellbeing. It specifically resulted in the development of major initiatives including policy studies on violence against children, orphans and child-headed households, the establishment of a Children’s Legal Protection Centre, and in the development of a major programme on Parenting in Africa and the publication of the first of a series on the subject entitled SHAPING THE FUTURE through the voices of African parents.