Georgia Southern University will host a Human Rights Conference on Saturday featuring Dr. Tebelelo Mazile Seretse, the ambassador of the Republic of Botswana to the United States, as the keynote speaker.

Registration for the conference will begin at 8 a.m. in the Williams Center Multi-Purpose Room followed by a panel discussion and opening sessions on the rights of women and minorities.

The ambassador will deliver her keynote address during lunch, which is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided at no cost. Following the keynote address, various panel discussions will be held in Russell Union throughout the day that will focus on children, minority, women, and gay and lesbian rights.

In addition, a welcome reception for Seretse will be held at the Carroll Building Commons Area at 6 p.m. Friday. While the events are free and open to the public, participants are asked to RSVP by emailing Hrc2conference@gmail.com.

Seretse is the first woman Botswana has appointed as its ambassador to the United States. Since her appointment, she has organized three missions to Botswana and participated in numerous debates, including one with the 2010 Black Congressional Caucus. With appearances on NBC, CNN’s “Inside Africa” and the PBS program “This is America,” Seretse has also spoken at numerous universities including Morgan State, Howard and Boston universities and the universities of Syracuse and Cincinnati. In addition, she has participated in roundtable discussions by women and African ambassadors throughout the United States.  

The Human Rights Conference is presented by the Center for Africana Studies at Georgia Southern University, in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, the Department of Communication Arts, Women and Gender Studies and the student organizations, Invisible Children and the Africana Grassroots Organization.