On behalf of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, I would like to thank you again for participating in the African Customary Law Revisited Conference in Botswana. It was truly a pleasure to meet all of you and to spend two days discussing many compelling issues related to the future of African Customary Law. It was wonderful to hear from judges, scholars, traditional leaders, lawyers and human rights advocates on topics of great importance in people’s lives.

As we discussed at the Conference, we plan to publish a book that relates to the conference topic. We expect to hear back from the publishers early next week and will then be in touch with all of you who presented papers at the conference about the timeline for submitting your final articles, along with page limits and formatting requirements. We look forward to working with you on this book project. For those of you who attended the conference, we'll be sure to keep you updated on the book's progress as well.

We hope to continue collaborating with you on future projects related to customary law. We also hope that you will build on the relationships established at the conference and continue to work with one another on projects of mutual interest. To this end, we will be posting a delegate list on this website so that you will be able to contact each other directly. If you attended the conference but do not see your name and contact information posted, please contact Libby Mooers at mooers@law.fordham.edu and she will add you.

Kind regards,

Jeanmarie Fenrich

Executive Director, Leitner Center for International Law and Justice

Dr. Athaliah Molokomme, the Attorney General of the Republic of Botswana, will open the conference on October 23, 2008.

Dr. Molokomme obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Botswana and Swaziland in 1981, and a Masters in Law from Yale Law School, USA in 1983. From 1988 to 1991, she studied for a PhD in Law at Leiden University, the Netherlands, graduating in 1991 with a published thesis entitled: Children of the Fence: "The maintenance of extra-marital children under law and practice in Botswana."

She taught law at the University of Botswana from 1981 - 1996, with periods of study leave in between, and has researched and published extensively in the fields of family law, women and law, customary law and employment law. For the past two decades, she has been a regular speaker at national, regional and international conferences, workshops and seminars in her areas of expertise.

Dr Molokomme has served on several boards, commissions and professional organisations at national, regional and international levels. She is also a founding member of several organisations including Emang Basadi, Women and Law Society in Southern Africa (WLSA), and Women, Law and Development International (WLDI). Among the awards she has received are the Women's Human Rights Award from WLDI in 1993, and the Presidential Order of Meritorious Service for Exceptional Service to Botswana in 1999. In March 2005 she was awarded the US Ambassador's award as one of the Vanguard Women Leaders of Botswana.

From July 1998, she was founding head of the Charter of the Gender Unit at Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), until May 2003 when she was appointed judge of High Court of Botswana.

In October 2005, she was appointed to her current position of Attorney General of the Republic of Botswana.

The new Leitner Center website containing information about the upcoming conference "Customary Law Revisited: The Role of Customary Law in the 21st Century" has been launched for the public. You can now register for the conference and find useful information about the program, panelists, sponsors, and venue. Check back soon for more information.