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The Uyghur Leadership Training Workshop 5: “The Uyghur Issue in the Context of China’s Democratization Process”

Press Release – For immediate release
16 February 2011
Contact:  World Uyghur Congress www.uyghurcongress.org
0049 (0) 89 5432 1999 or [email protected]

The World Uyghur Congress with the co-operation of the Australian Uyghur Association, the East Turkestan Australian Association and the Victoria Uyghur Association will hold a democracy-training workshop entitled “The Uyghur Issue in the Context of China’s Democratisation Process” in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, Australia from March 21 to 28, 2011.  The workshop is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy Foundation (NED).

Prominent Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer, thrice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, will be attending the workshop.

The workshop will be a week-long event in three major cities in Australia. The first workshop will be held in Sydney for two days from March 21 to 22. Then on 23 March, there will be a visit to the Australian Parliament in Canberra where Ms. Rebiya Kadeer will be addressing interested Parliamentarians (Committee Room 1R1 at 11.00 am). From March 24 to 26, the workshop will be held for the Uyghur community in Adelaide. From March 27 to 28, the workshop will be held for the Uyghur community in Melbourne.
The training workshop will bring together academics and regional experts, Uyghur leaders and the wider community, political entities, international non-governmental organizations, media representatives and diplomats from the international community, thereby ensuring that a broad range of perspectives is represented.

The general aim of the workshop is to provide the Uyghur community with the knowledge and experience necessary not only to raise awareness of the Uyghur issue in the Western world, but also to build capacity in the field of human rights and democratization efforts. The main purpose of the 2011 workshop is to raise awareness of the deteriorating human rights situation of the Uyghur people since the July 5th Massacre in 2009 within the larger Australian society and government. The workshop will also focus on human rights, democracy and awareness raising programs for the Australian Uyghur community.
Since 1997, the World Uyghur Congress has annually organized “the Uyghur Leadership Training Workshop”  with the co-sponsorship of NED and of UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization) in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the US.

The workshop has proved to be a great success and is another significant opportunity to empower the various Uyghur communities and groups in exile. In the meantime, it has been a great occasion to show the world the difficult position the Uyghurs in East Turkestan are facing.

The workshop usually consists of lectures, discussions, educational visits, interviews with the local media and follow-up programs.

Contact persons:

Mr. Dolkun Isa, (Secretary General of the World Uyghur Congress and Director of the Uyghur Leadership Training Project)

Tel: +49 89 54321999
Fax: +49 89 54349789
E: [email protected]

Dr. Mamtimin Ala (President of the Australian Uyghur Association and Representative of the World Uyghur Congress in Australia)

Ph: +61 2 9601 6542

Fax: +61 2 9601 0150

E: [email protected]