Sunday, April 29, 2018

SCECSAL 23rd ends as Namibians steal the show on final day

The 23rd SCECSAL Conference came to a close on Friday 27th April, 2018 at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, Entebbe.

The five day event that started on 23rd April was the third time the Uganda Library and Information Association (ULIA) was hosting the regional event, having hosted the event in 1990 and 2004.

Speaking at  the closing ceremony, SCECSAL President Dr. John Paul Anbu, conveyed his sincere appreciation to the hosts ULIA and the National Organizing Committee (NOC), the delegates and all sponsors who made the 23rd Conference a success. Dr Anbu was speaking for the last time as SCECSAL President before handing over the office to Dr Sarah Kaddu of Uganda.

The last day started off with three expert panel discussions which were well attended by delegates. More than 200 delegates from fifteen Library associations in Africa and beyond attended the Conference. 
Dr Sarah Kaddu and Dr John Paul Anbu
during the SCECSAL General Assembly
In her closing remarks, ULIA President Dr Sarah Kaddu thanked everyone for making the 23rd SCECSAL conference a great success. She noted that the process of managing the SCECSAL conference  had been long and challenging not mentioning demanding physical, material, financial, spiritual and emotional support.

The conference theme: “Positioning library and information services to achieve sustainable development: innovations and partnerships” was thoroughly addressed through pre-conference  workshops, paper presentations, session discussions, poster sessions and expert panel discussions. Fifteen sub-themes  were cross examined through fifty papers, workshop sessions and three Expert panel discussion sessions.

Between conference sessions, the SCECSAL General Council  meetings were held in which key decisions ware made including adopting the guidelines for establishing a permanent SCECSAL Secretariat and the and agreeing on the revised SCECSAL constitution to be adopted in the next coming months.  
Team Namibian delgetation chanting to victory
Worth noting is that issues of library and information services contribution to the attainment of sustainable development were debated in and out.  It is hoped that through the deliberations and resolutions made, the world in general and the SCECSAL region in particular should be a better place for all to live in without any one being left behind said Dr Kaddu who is also the new SCECSAL President.

Dr Chiku Mnubi Mchombu was the winner of the best SCECSAL 2018 paper award with her paper entitled "Access to information and Services by students with disabilities: A case study of the University of Namibia’’.  In a related development, Dr. Mchombu led her Namibian counterparts to confirm Namibia's readiness to host the 2020 SCECSAL conference in Namibia.

Clad in Namibian colors and waving national flags, the Namibian delegation matched through Ziba Conference Hall chanting a famous Namibian song of victory.

Dr John Paul also declared that the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) would hots the 2002 SCECSAL Conference in South Africa.

On behalf of ULIA and SCECSAL 2018 National Organizing Committee, we want to thank everyone who supported us and made this conference a success.

See you again in Namibia in 2020 at the XXIVth SCECSAL Conference! 


2 comments:

  1. Congratulations Dr. Chiku and Yvonne for the best paper as well Dr. Sarah Kaddu new President

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  2. Congratulation to all the delegates who presented, the Namibian team and to ULIA for making the event a success.

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