Invitation to a workshop in Columbia University this Friday. --------------------------------------------------- SIPA, Columbia University Invites you to a Workshop: “Constituent Assembly, Constitutional Process and the Building of a Democratic State in Nepal” Hosted by Prof. Jenik Radon Date: Friday, April 13, 2007 Time: 1:30 – 6:30 pm Venue: Columbia University Law School 435 West 116th Street at Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027 Room JG-101 Exactly one year after the signing of the 12 point agreement reached between the Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance the two sides signed a comprehensive peace agreement on November 16, 2006. The events that led to this accord were launched by the people’s movement in April 2006 and are truly historic. With the signing of the agreement, the cease fire became permanent and finally the UN assisted with the arms management - two key issues that leveled the ground for implementing the peace agreement and for the peaceful construction of a stable democracy in Nepal. Another key issue was the passing of the Nepal Citizenship Act 2006, whereby all those born in Nepal before the second week of April 1990 are to be given citizenship under certain conditions. This would help thousands of formerly stateless people to exercise their rights and to fulfill their obligations as citizens of Nepal. However, there are many challenges the Nepalese people have to tackle before and also after the elections to the Constituent Assembly officially still set for June 2007. With an interim parliament and an interim constitution in place, the country is still facing serious questions as to how to provide for inclusion and equal representation of all ethnic and other groups, clarify the separation of powers, and many more issues. In order to discuss and find solutions for some of these challenges we cordially invite you to join us for the first of a series of workshops entitled “Constituent Assembly, Constitutional Process and the Building of a Democratic State in Nepal”. Our goal is to analyze some of these questions, how they impact the Nepalese people and to draft working papers on these issues so as to contribute to the democracy process in Nepal. As we are aiming for a concentrated and result-oriented working seminar, we encourage people truly committed to the cause of the democracy process in Nepal to sign up for this workshop. Since there will be a limited number of seats, please RSVP to Jasmine Henz (jh2698@columbia.edu) and for questions, please contact Prof. Jenik Radon (jr2218@columbia.edu) or Jasmine Henz (jh2698@columbia.edu). -------------------------------------------------