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"Mary
Robinson Encourages Dialogue on Human Rights",
From the February 2003 Anthropology News
Ethical
Globalization Initiative
Speeches
Address
by Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights and Secretary-General of the
WCAR, at the opening of the WCAR in Durban,
31 August
Remarks
At An Exchange Of Toasts With United States
President Bill Clinton
Mary
Robinson
United Nations High Commissioner
of Human Rights
(1944 to )
The first woman to be elected president
of Ireland, Mary Robinson gave up her office
to accept an appointment as the United Nations
High Commissioner of Human Rights. A lawyer
with a long-standing interest in civil liberties
and women's rights, Robinson used her position
as the Irish head of state to compel the
attention of Ireland -- and the world --
to human rights issues ranging from civil
strife in Northern Ireland to genocide in
Rwanda.
Born on May 21, 1944, in the town of Ballina,
County Mayo, young Mary Bourke was an outstanding
academic achiever. At the age of twenty-five,
armed with law degrees from both Dublin
and Harvard, she became the youngest ever
professor of law at Trinity College Dublin
and went on to win a seat in the Irish parliament
as a member of the Labour Party. The following
year she married lawyer Nicholas Robinson.
During twenty years as a senator in the
Irish parliament, Robinson was a strong
advocate for a host of controversial issues
relating to the rights of women, supporting
contraception, divorce, and abortion. She
also became a noted expert on European human
rights law, served on several international
commissions on civil liberties during the
1980s, and founded the Irish Centre for
European Law in 1988.
Robinson's avowed support of unpopular liberal
and feminist causes made her an unlikely
choice as the Labour Party's candidate for
president in 1990. She described her surprise
victory as proof that the women of Ireland
"instead of rocking the cradle had
rocked the system." Robinson turned
her office into a powerful vehicle for dialogue
and social change. During her seven years
in office, she engaged the Irish people
on issues as diverse as the effect of the
Irish diaspora on the identity of modern
Ireland, and the need for humanitarian intervention
in famine-ravaged Somalia. Her integrity
won the admiration of even her political
opponents and made her one of the most popular
public figures in recent Irish history.
Robinson's appointment as head of the UN
Office of the High Commissioner of Human
Rights in September 1997 was hailed by human
rights groups, who believe that she will
be able to transform the high commissioner's
office into a vital force for the protection
of human rights worldwide.
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