BHA: First “World Conference on Untouchability” to be held in London, June 9 & 10

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is organizing the first “World Conference on Untouchability” at Conway Hall Humanist Centre, London, UK, on June 9 and 10, 2009. The conference will bring together activists and experts from around the world to explore a problem that afflicts nearly 250 million people in countries from Japan to Nigeria.

“Untouchability” – the social exclusion of people because of the population they are born into – used to be common in Europe and persists in Bangladesh, Burma, India, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Yemen and elsewhere. The IHEU ‘World Conference on Untouchability’ is the first conference of its kind to explore untouchability in many different cultures and to bring together activists to share strategies that have helped untouchable communities around the world. Campaigners plan to use the conference as the launch pad for a global campaign against untouchability.

“There are no ethnic differences between untouchables and the people who discriminate against them. Yet untouchability is akin to the scourge of racism in its denial of humanity to people because of the social group they are born into,” says Sonja Eggerickx, president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. “We hope that this first world conference on untouchability will lead to a global campaign to tackle untouchability with the same resolve the world has fought racism.”

The IHEU ‘World Conference on Untouchability’ is supported by the British Humanist Association and South Place Ethical Society. The conference starts at 9 am, Tuesday, June 9 and ends at noon on June 10. The cost is £75. To register go to http://www.humanism.org.uk/june2009 Or if you are a journalist, email naomi@humanism.org.uk to reserve your place.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union is the world union of more than 100 Humanist, rationalist, secular, ethical culture, atheist and freethought organizations from more than 40 countries. Founded in 1952, IHEU is an international NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) with Special Consultative Status with the United Nations, General Consultative Status at the Council of Europe, Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and operational relations with UNESCO.

For more information contact Matt Cherry at pr@iheu.org or on +1 518 632 1040.