DCU will be the host of the World Anti-Bullying Forum (WABF) 2019 after Dublin secured a bid to house the worldwide event.
DCU will host the event following a competitive process led by the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre located on the St Patrick’s Campus. The event will be organised in collaboration with the US-based International Bullying Prevention Association.
The successful bid was supported by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mícheál Mac Donncha, the Department of Education and Skills and Fáilte Ireland.
“We already know that the City of Dublin is one of the safest cities in the world and we are hoping that by hosting the WABF here in 2019 it will be another step towards making the Dublin a bully-free city,” Mac Donncha said at the launch.
The WABF is considered the most impactful worldwide event related to tackling bullying and harassment of young people.
The event will see internationally recognised experts share their knowledge and insight on topics of violence and inhumane actions affecting the youth of today. These keynote speakers want their talks to give new perspectives into combating bullying.
“The overall goal is to create even more effective approaches to tackling bullying and allow every child and young person the right to grow up without being bullied, ostracised or discriminated against,” the director of FRIENDS International Centre Against Bullying, Jacob Flärdh Aspegren, said in a statement.
Director of the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre at DCU, James O’Higgins Norman, said at the launch, “Given the current geo-political context it makes sense to focus on bullying and victimisation among children and younger people in the hope that if we can tackle bullying and cyberbullying with them then this will have a long-term impact on societies around the globe.”
This forum was originally created by the Friends International Center against Bullying and took place in Stockholm in 2017 with 550 delegates from 37 different countries.
The event will take place between June 4th and 6th in 2019 and looks to attract over 700 patrons ranging between academics and anyone with a general interest against bullying.
Daniel Troy