South African Human Rights Activist to Speak at Penn State on March 15

March 1, 2006

University Park, Pa. --- Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, internationally known human rights activist, will speak at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 15, in HUB Robeson Auditorium, University Park campus. McClain-Nhlapo is the speaker for the second annual Nelson Mandela Lecture Series, sponsored by the Africana Research Center and the Department of African and African American Studies, both at Penn State.

Beverly Vandiver, director of the Africana Research Center, noted that the Nelson Mandela Lecture serves to recognize an Africanist civil rights activist whose work embodies the ethos of Nelson Mandela.

McClain-Nhlapo’s work reflects her commitment to social justice. In 1999, she was appointed by the president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, to the South African Human Rights Commission and was subsequently reappointed in 2002. Currently on leave of absence from the Human Rights Commission, she has been at the World Bank where she is the disability adviser to the East Asia and the Pacific region and the South Asia region. In addition, she is the deputy Chairperson of the Council of the University of South African (UNISA).

Over the years she has worked on helping marginalized groups, children, women and people with disabilities, serving as an expert to various U.N. agencies and South African boards. She was a Project Officer on Child Protection for UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), and in 1996, she was legal adviser to the Disability Desk in the Office of the Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, where she worked on the Integrated National Disability Strategy.

McClain-Nhlapo’s presentation is open and free to the public. No ticket is required. For information, call Africana Research Center at 814.865.6482.