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Human-Rights Activist to Speak About Politics, Conflict in Africa

African international-affairs expert, best-selling author and humanitarian John Prendergast will speak Tuesday, Jan. 29, about land, politics and conflict prevention in Africa. His presentation will be at 3 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union.

The event, organized by the UCF Global Perspectives Office, is part of the 2012-2013 theme of “The Changing Face of Freedom in Today’s Turbulent Times.” The event is free and open to the public.

Prendergast has worked  for peace in Africa for more than 25 years. He is the former director for African Affairs for the U.S. National Security Council and a board member and strategic advisor to Not on Our Watch, an organization founded by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Brad Pitt.

Prendergast is also the co-founder of the Enough Project, a 2007 initiative affiliated with the Center for American Progress aimed to end genocide and crimes against humanity. That year, he also published, with Cheadle, “Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond,” which was a New York Times Bestseller. In 2010, the duo published another book, “The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes.”

In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, sponsors and partners include the UCF Global Peace and Security Studies Program, UCF Diplomacy Program, Orlando Area Committee on Foreign Relations, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, CliftonLarsonAllen, UCF Political Science Department, UCF LIFE, UCF Book Festival 2013 in association with the Morgridge International Reading Center and the Global Connections Foundation.