Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinsonserved as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate. She defeated Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan and Fine Gael's Austin Currie in the 1990 presidential election becoming, as an Independent candidate nominated by the Labour Party, the Workers' Party and independent senators, the first...
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth27 November 1757
human-rights threat
The changing climate is a threat to human rights.
count endless failure global human impact programs quite results rights scale
Count up the results of 50 years of human rights mechanisms, 30 years of multibillion-dollar development programs and endless high-level rhetoric, and the global impact is quite underwhelming, ... This is a failure of implementation on a scale which shames us all.
attended indeed issue justice known main meeting
I think the main perpetrators are substantially known, and indeed known to Jakarta ... at every meeting I have attended the issue of justice has come up,
babies love motivation
Our motivation is our love for all babies.
abandon civilian core face security serious standards threat
must not abandon its core standards and values, even in the face of the serious security threat to its own civilian population.
addressing awkward high importance recognized standing
I've always recognized as high commissioner the importance of standing up to bullies, addressing short-comings and being outspoken, an awkward voice.
justice people support
Tackling the issue of climate change presents us with an inflection point in human history - a climate justice revolution that separates development from fossil fuels, supports people in the most vulnerable situations to adapt, allows all people to take part, and, most importantly, realise their full potential.
avoid civilians damage force injury life loss measures necessary principle taken whenever
Whenever force is used, the principle of proportionality has to be applied, and all necessary measures have to be taken to avoid loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian property.
destroyed hear row
You hear and read of the destruction, see pictures, ... very devastating ... to come and see row after row of blackened, destroyed homes.
borders cannot cause concerned deeply grave kosovo required return whom
We are deeply concerned about those who have been required to return from the borders back into Kosovo and about whom we cannot find first-hand information, ... That was a cause of really grave concern.
climate problem faster
If we took away barriers to women's leadership, we would solve the climate change problem a lot faster
rights today causes
Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts.
moving thinking engineering
The aim of human rights, if I may borrow a term from engineering, is to move beyond the design and drawing-board phase, to move beyond thinking and talking about the foundations stones - to laying those foundation stones, inch by inch, together.
rights two environmental
There's a worldwide linking of environmental activists, developmental experts and human rights advocates. And they're using the two frameworks, in particular environmental standards and human rights.