Report on IUPsyS — UN activities

One of the most important conferences ever to be organized by the United Nations, the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, will be held in South Africa, from August 31 to September 7, 2001. The UN Commission on Human Rights is acting as the Preparatory Committee for this World Conference. The purpose of the preparatory process is to raise public awareness of racism and racial discrimination globally and to focus on the action needed to fight it. Prior to the Conference, two preparatory meetings are planned. The first was held from 1 to 5 May 2000 in Geneva and the second will be in May/June 2001, also in Geneva. At the first Preparatory Committee meeting, a number of organizational decisions were taken, including adoption of the provisional agenda for the Conference and its draft rules of procedure. A voluntary fund has been established to provide additional resources for the preparatory process and the World Conference itself. In the next paragraphs, information concerning the background of this important conference is provided by the Department of Public Information of the UN to help a better comprehension of the issues. No doubt that the IUPsyS will have to find ways it can become more deeply involved in the process and participate actively in the actual deliberations that will take place in South Africa, next August, with the goal of eventually submitting recommendations.     

IUPsyS — United Nations Activities

On November 11, 1997, in Paris, The General Conference of UNESCO adopted the first international recommendation concerning university and college professors. This is an important event, since the only other document that concerns teachers, i.e. those of the primary and secondary levels, was adopted in 1966 by UNESCO and IWO. This recommendation considers the rights and responsibilities of those involved in teaching and research. The concepts of academic freedom, institutional autonomy and tenure are presented and defined; they are recognized as being part of the definition of the working conditions of higher-education teaching personnel. Although not restrictive, this recommendation supplies a general framework to universities and research centers. In view of its importance, you will find in the next paragraphs the unabridged version of this recommendation.     

Regional conferences—A capacity‐building mandate: Report on CRCP2011—Building Bridges and Building a Regional Structure

The Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology was held in Nassau, The Bahamas, from 15 to 18 November 2011, under the auspices of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS), and the International Association for Cross‐Cultural Psychology (IACCP). The conference was hosted by the Bahamas Psychological Association, and organized by a committee chaired by Dr Ava Thompson, College of the Bahamas. The CRCP2011 attracted over 400 participants from 37 countries, including 20 nations/territories in the Caribbean. A broad scientific program, organized around six conference themes, addressed strengths and challenges to psychology in the region; the current state of psychological research, assessment, and intervention; historical, cultural, and language influences; and links between Caribbean and global models. Conference outcomes included planning for a series of publications to expand on conference themes and presentations, as well as establishment of a steering group to launch a regional organization to support the science and practice of psychology in the Caribbean.