Focus Week: The Work of the UN’s Special Mediation Unit
Adjunct Professor Louise Otis invites Law students to join her for special conferences as part of her Focus Week Workshop on the Law of International Organizations.
For this talk, we welcome special guest Michael Brown. He will lecture on his work at the UN special mediation Unit as a mediator specialized on natural resource and land conflicts around the world.
About the speaker
Michael Brown is a regular consulting advisor to the United Nations (UN) on natural resource and land conflicts, mediation, indigenous peoples and peacebuilding. He is a Professor of Practice in Conflict Mediation at McGill University's Institute for the Study of International Development. His work focuses primarily on natural resource and land conflicts.
He was the UN's Senior Mediation Expert on Land and Natural Resource Conflicts for the Department of Political Affairs' (DPA) Standby Mediation Team, and a Senior Expert on Natural Resources, Environmental Diplomacy and Mediation for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). He has held leadership and senior advisory positions with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN DPA, the World Bank, and UN peace missions. Among many professional and academic publications, Michael is one of the principal contributing authors of Natural Resources and Conflict: A Guide for Mediation Practitioners (United Nations, 2015).
His experience spans dozens of countries through Latin America, Asia, Africa and North America. His natural resource conflict expertise covers extractive industries, land and water disputes, particularly when local and/or indigenous communities are involved or affected.
