Dear Friends,
In case you haven't seen this invite... Please rsvp by March 8 to: rsvpburmaevent@gmail.com if you're planning to attend!
In a recent survey by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and partner organizations in Chin State, Western Burma, nearly 92 percent of respondents reported at least one episode of forced labor, such as portering of military supplies or building roads. PHR’s new report,
Life Under the Junta: Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in Burma’s Chin State
Join PHR and the Burma Fund for a discussion about the findings of the report and a dialogue about the road to peace and stability in Burma.
DATE and TIME:
· Thursday, March 10, 2011, 6-8:30 p.m.
LOCATION:
· United Nations Church Center 2nd floor, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York NY 10017
SPEAKERS:
· Richard Sollom – Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights; Author, Life Under the Junta
· Dr. Thaung Htun – Executive Director, Burma Fund UN and Representative for UN Affairs, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
· Claire Tixeire – Permanent Delegate to the UN, FIDH
MODERATOR:
· Prof. Dirk Salomons –Director, Program for Humanitarian Affairs, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
RSVP by March 8 to: rsvpburmaevent@gmail.com
Bios of Speakers:
Richard Sollom, Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights
Richard Sollom is Deputy Director at Physicians for Human Rights where he has served for five years in various roles, including Senior Program Associate and Director of Research and Investigations. He currently oversees programs on health, emergency response, armed conflict, asylum, and UN advocacy initiatives. Sollom led PHR's health and human rights investigations in Bangkok, Bangladesh, Burma, and Zimbabwe.
Over the past two decades, Rick has investigated human rights violations in 20 countries worldwide. Prior to his work with PHR, he served with the United Nations in Haiti, Somalia, and Burundi. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, Fulbright Fellow, Albert Schweitzer Fellow, and holds advanced degrees in public international law from The Fletcher School and in global health from Harvard University.
Dr. Thaung Htun, Executive Director of the Burma Fund and Representative for UN Affairs, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
Dr. Thaung Htun was elected a member of the Central Executive Committee and Secretary for Foreign Affairs Department of the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) in February 1989. He was re-elected to the same post that same year and in 1991. As senior student activist during his studies at Rangoon Institute of Medicine, he took part in the U Thant Funeral Uprising in 1974 and Centenary of Thakin Ko Daw Hmine's Uprising in 1976.
After graduating from medical school, he worked as an assistant surgeon in Taungoo Military Hospital for three years. In his native town, Dr. Htun became the leader of Kytaunggon Township's Strike Committee during the 1988 democratic uprising. He escaped arrest by the Burmese Army and later took refuge at the Thailand-Burma border in November of that year. When the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) was formed on December 18, 1990, he became a member of the Government Secretariat and was involved in the international activities of the NCGUB. Currently, Dr. Htun serves as the representative of the NCGUB for UN affairs.
Claire Tixeire, Permanent Delegate to the United Nations, International Federation for Human Rights
Claire Tixeire has been the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Permanent Delegate to the United Nations in New York since 2005. FIDH federates 164 national human rights organizations in more than 100 countries. FIDH has long been doing international advocacy on Burma in close coordination with its member leagues the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma and Burma Lawyers’ Council. Claire Tixeire is a law graduate from the University of Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris. She also holds diplomas in International Law – specializing in international criminal law – from the University of Kent at Canterbury and the University of Quebec at Montreal. After working for the International Legal Resources Center in Montreal, she completed a Masters in Human Rights and Public Liberties at the University of Nanterre, Paris. She also works for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, FIDH member organization in the US.
Moderator: Dirk Salomons, Director, Program for Humanitarian Affairs, School for Public and International Affairs at Columbia University
Dirk Salomons is the director of the Program for Humanitarian Affairs at the School of International Public Affairs, Columbia University, where he also heads the International Organizations specialization. In his research as well as in teaching, Salomons focuses on the interaction between policy and management in humanitarian operations; he has a particular interest in the transition from relief to recovery in countries coming out of conflict.
Prior to joining the SIPA faculty in 2002, Salomons served since 1997 as managing partner of the Praxis Group, Ltd., an international management consulting firm based in the USA and Switzerland, where he still plays an advisory role. Praxis works mainly with public service entities, applying its expertise in humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping, and post conflict recovery as well as in human resources management. Salomons is also a non-resident fellow at New York University's Center on International cooperation, working mainly on post-conflict stabilization issues.
From 1970-1997, Salomons served in a wide range of management, peace building, and policy advisory functions in several organizations of the United Nations system, including FAO, UNDP, UNAIDS, UNOPS, and the UN Secretariat. His most cherished assignment was that of executive director for the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Mozambique, from 1992 to 1993.
Andrea Gittleman
Policy Associate
Physicians for Human Rights
1156 15th Street NW, Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 728-5335 x303
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