Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Mary Robinson of Ireland Special Envoy

 

for Great Lakes Region of Africa

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Mary Robinson of Ireland as his Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.  She will play a key role in supporting the implementation of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes Region of Africa, by the signatories.

Mrs. Robinson brings with her more than four decades of political and diplomatic experience, including as President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and as a member of the Irish Senate from 1969 to 1989.  She also has considerable international experience, most notably as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002.

Mrs. Robinson will continue to serve as President of the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice, a centre for thought leadership, education and advocacy on the struggle to secure global justice for those many victims of climate change who are usually forgotten — the poor, the disempowered and the marginalized across the world.  The Secretary-General appreciates the importance of this work and Mrs. Robinson’s commitment to it.

From 2002 to 2010, Mrs. Robinson led the organization Realizing Rights:  The Ethical Globalization Initiative, the core activities of which included strengthening women’s leadership and encouraging corporate responsibility.  Internationally renowned for championing human rights, she is a member of the Elders and serves on the Board and Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

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*     This supersedes Press Release BIO/3374 of 31 August 2001.

For information media • not an official record