Three Nigerian students scheduled to attend the World Congress of Global Partnership for Young Women from Aug. 4 to 15 at the Duksung Women’s University, Korea hosted in conjunction with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) were denied visa to Korea for fear of Ebola.
The school announced that it canceled all invitations issued to three students from Nigeria. Also, students from countries in other parts of Africa will have to undergo additional health inspections before participating in the event, the student president of Duksung said.
Under the theme of “Serving Together: Education for Empowerment of Women,” the school invited female leaders and 500 college students from 32 countries, including 8 countries in Africa.
However, since the reported outbreak of the Ebola virus, Duksung students and many others have expressed concerns. The virus has already claimed 700 lives in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and 1 in Nigeria.
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Over 15,000 people signed an online petition against the “dangerous” invitations since Saturday before it was taken down Sunday at Daum, Korea’s search engine.
Yet the event will be held as planned, and many are still concerned about it.
“Since it is a cooperative event with the UN Women, we cannot cancel the invitations of all students from Africa or the whole conference,” said an official from the school. “We are in talks with Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about how to deal with the potential problem.” (Peoples Daily)
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