Redefining Global Security

Speaker:

Mary Robinson

07 Mar 2016

8:00 PM

Great Hall, Memorial Union

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Mary Robinson, the first woman elected president of Ireland, just completed her term as the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Change. She is founder and president of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, providing leadership, education and advocacy to secure global justice for those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change - the poor, the disempowered and the marginalized. She continues to serve as a member of the Elders, a highly respected independent group of world leaders focused on peace and human rights and founded by Nelson Mandela. She previously served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Her memoir, Everybody Matters: My Life Giving Voice, chronicles her career as a young lawyer crusading for women's rights. Women's Leadership Series and World Affairs Series

Mary Robinson has argued landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights, founded Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, and introduced the human rights agenda into the core of UN activities. She studied law at Trinity College, Dublin, King's Inns and Harvard Law School. The Ethical Globalization Initiative (2002-2010) had as its mission to address three urgent issues required for greater human development and security: fostering more equitable international trade and development; strengthening responses to HIV/AIDS in Africa; and shaping more humane migration policies.