"CHOGM" comes early to The University of Queensland

University of Queensland undergraduates will stage their own Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on Thursday, September 20.

The main focus of the CHOGM event, to be held in Mayne Hall from 2pm, will be human rights in a globalised economy.

This will include discussion of Commonwealth responsibility for refugees; indigenous rights; women and children's rights; and global warming and its impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of people affected.

Queensland high school students from 10 schools will also attend the two-hour event 'representing' Non-Government Organisations and the media asking questions of the UQ students acting as the 'Commonwealth Heads of Government'.

The event co-incides with the actual CHOGM to be held in Brisbane from Saturday, October 6 until Tuesday, October 9 this year.

Schools represented at the event will be Marist Brothers College, Ashgrove; West Moreton Anglican College; Indooroopilly High School; Boonah High School; Kenmore High School; Stuartholme College; River Mount College, Gold Coast; Morayfield High School, Sunshine Coast; Tullawong High School, Sunshine Coast; and Caboolture High School, Sunshine Coast.

In preparation for the day, the undergraduate Human Rights and International Politics program students have each been assigned to report on a Commonwealth country.

Event organiser and Adjunct Professor with UQ's School of Political Science and International Studies Margaret Reynolds said they had examined the country's current compliance with United Nations human rights treaty obligations. These case studies are part of the students' written assignments, Professor Reynolds said.

She said the event would also include a parade entering for the Official Ceremony; welcoming speeches from undergraduate students playing the roles of the Head of the Commonwealth, Secretary-General and Australian Prime Minister; and speeches from various undergraduate students representing heads of governments of developing nations.

For more information, contact Professor Margaret Reynolds (telephone 07 3365 3112 or mobile 0418 181843) or Shirley Glaister at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2339).