Monday, April 16, 2007

Symposium on the Haitian Constitution

Symposium on the Haitian Constitution
Florida International University
Saturday April 28, 2007

African-New World Studies (AWNS) of Florida International University (FIU) and teh Academi Nationale Diplomatique et Consulaire (ANDC) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, are hosting a symposium on the Reform of the Haitian Constitution at FIU's University Park Campus, College of Law (Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall) on Saturday, April 28, 2007, 8:30Am - 5:00 PM. This event is free and open to the public.

The Government of Haiti (GOH) recently launched a national dialogue aimed at identifying and correcting the flaws of the 1987 constitution, which, in spite of the turmoil of the past 20 years, remains teh fundamental political chart of Haiti. Toward this endeavor, and in order to be as inclusive as possible, GOH, in concert with various partners, has expressed support for this organization of various colloquia across Haiti and the Diaspora. The symposium at FIU is the first of the series of international conferences and symposia that will explore the "most pressing" aspects of teh Haitian constitution that need reform, as well as teh most efficacious ways in which the change(s) should be made. The one-day conference will provide a forum for the Haitian Diaspora and scholars of Haiti in South Florida to partake in teh dialogue on Haiti's constitutional reform.

Conference participants include, Gerard Gourgue, interim president of the Port-au-Prince Bar and former Haitian ambassador to UNESCO; Jean Chavannes Jeune, leader of the party Union; Eric Jean-Jacques; president the Haitian Chamber of Deputies; Georges Michel, writer, journalist and former constituent; Chantel Hudicourt-Ewald, lawyer and former constituent, Myrtho Bonhomme, president of the Academie National Diplomatique et Consulaire.

Honorable Jacques Edouard Alexis, Prime Minister of Haiti, will be the keynote speaker at the conference.

Dr. Jean-Germaine Gros, Spring 2007 visiting research fellow at ANWS and associate professor of political science and public policy administration at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), and ambassador Myrtho Bonhomme, president of ANDC, will co-chair the conference. For further information, please call 305 919-5521 or contact africana@fiu.edu or mstew@fiu.edu. For general campus information, call 305. 348.2000.

The symposium is sponsored by the following units at Florida International University: African-New World Studies, Caribbean Bar Students Association, Latin American and Caribbean Center, and College of Law. Additional support is provided by the Haiti Research Group at the University of Miami.