Child Rights Conference Builds on Long Utica-Albania History

The Utica-Albania Child Rights Conference on Tuesday, November 19th, celebrated World Children’s Day and brought colleagues together from Utica and Albania to discuss the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Trauma-Informed Care. Guest speakers were Utica’s Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, Cicily Talerico, and Albania’s Executive Director of the Child Rights Center Albania,Altin Hazizaj. The conference was attended by at least 57 international advocates who discussed child rights in both countries, noting that the United States is the only major country to not ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The conference built on a long history of human rights advocacy supported by Utica University since 1991 when Professor Ted Orlin worked as a member of Albania’s Helsinki Committee to prosecute human rights violations following the end of Enver Hoxha’s dictatorship in 1985. This work led to the development of Human Rights curricula in Utica’s Political Science program. Since that time, Utica University has supported the International Human Rights Film Festival, held annually in Tirana, the country’s capital, and the forensic anthropology field school in Butrint. The conference was organized by Melissa Racioppa, Assistant Professor of Psychology-Child Life, and Patrice Hallock, Dean of Health Professions and Education. It was supported by Utica’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.