For the first time ever this conference is to be held in New Zealand in Wellington from 14 to 16 February 2006.
The conference is unique among child abuse conferences in that one whole stream of the conference is about "Discipline and Guidance" and discouraging the use of physical punishment. This is a clear recognition of the connection between child abuse and the use of physical force in discipline, and acknowledgement that physical punishment is a risk factor for child abuse.
Two of the world's leading advocates on ending physical punishment are scheduled to be at the conference. Joan Durrant from Canada will be presenting in two plenary sessions. Joan visited New Zealand last year and presented very compelling arguments against physical punishment. Peter Newell, from the Global Movement to End Physical Punishment of Children is the one of the world's leading advocates for children's rights. He is the author of the "Implementation handbook on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child". Peter will be presenting a paper at one of the concurrent sessions. To find out more about this conference or to register, see www.nzfvc.org.nz/accan.
STOP PRESS - Peter Newell is unable to attend for health reasons