Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin will deliver the keynote address during a Vermont Honduras Partners Conference on Friday, April 7, in Chase Community Center at Vermont Law School. The conference, from 8:30 to 5 p.m., will explore how Vermonters can assist communities in Honduras, and how Vermont communities can welcome Central Americans and other non-citizens in Vermont.
The event, sponsored by the Vermont Honduras Partnership of Partners of the Americas, ACTS Honduras, and the South Royalton Legal Clinic (SRLC) at VLS, is free and open to the public and press.
"Vermonters and Hondurans are in partnership, fostering civil society, human rights and sustainable economic development in both countries," said Sheldon Novick, spokesman for ACTS Honduras and former professor of American Legal History at VLS. "At the conference, we will meet to celebrate more than 50 years of successful efforts, to share past experience, and to plan for a difficult future. We hope to strengthen networks of existing organizations, invite volunteers to join us in Vermont or in Honduras, and plan for a future in which their work will be more important than ever."
"We are grateful to Madeleine Kunin for her support, and hope the Vermont community will join us to learn more about our partnerships with Central America," Novick said.
In addition to the keynote by Kunin, the conference will include an introduction to Vermont and Honduras community partnerships and panels on "Facilitating Sustainable Community Development in Honduras," moderated by University of Vermont Professor Dan Baker, and "Central American Migrants in Vermont: Welcoming Communities, Human Rights of Non-Citizens," moderated by VLS Professor Erin Jacobsen, an immigration lawyer at the South Royalton Legal Clinic. Workshops led by Vermonters and Honduran visitors will explore aspects of sustainable community development in Honduras, defending human rights of the foreign-born in Vermont, and sustainable economic development in Honduras.
Honduran refreshments will be served during the conference. For more information, including a full schedule and preregistration, visit vermonthonduras.net, and follow on Facebook and Twitter, @VermontHonduras and #VermontHonduras.
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