Williams Briefs UN on Burma's Constitutional Referendum
On March 4, David Williams, John S. Hastings Professor of Law, was one of four outside experts at a
United Nations meeting convened in New York by the Social Science Research Council and the Conflict
Prevention Peace Forum. The meeting was designed to brief Ibrahim Gambari, UN Special Envoy to Burma
and Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Political Affairs on issues related to Burma's
upcoming constitutional referendum.
Williams provided expertise on the Burmese constitutional process and Burmese democracy movement based on his work as executive director of the Center on Constitutional Democracy in Plural Societies. Andrew Lian, SJD candidate and research fellow at the CCDPS, accompanied Williams to the meeting. Williams and the team of experts expect to provide ongoing consultation for Gambari and others at the UN regarding Burma's political situation.
Established in October 2000, the CPPF strengthens the knowledge base and analytical capacity of the United Nations system in the fields of conflict prevention and management, peacemaking and peacebuilding. It provides UN staff with a systematic channel to outside experts in order to deepen the national, regional, or thematic analysis on which the United Nations bases its work on conflict.