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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to deliver Fifth Commonwealth Lecture

6 June 2002

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will give the Fifth Commonwealth Lecture in London tomorrow. She will talk about Human Rights in the Shadow of 11 September.

Recognising that a comprehensive approach to human security is needed, Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, said:

We need to build on the wider recognition that emerged out of the 11 September outrage of the many causes of human insecurity. The real security fears of New Yorkers and the developed world in general are matched by the equally immediate insecurity of people in the developing world. Human security encompasses not only threats arising from terrorism and violent conflicts, but the insecurities that stem from underdevelopment and poverty, from rampant disease, from discrimination and unequal trade.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Don McKinnon, said:

We are very honoured that this year's Commonwealth Lecture will be given by Mary Robinson. Throughout her distinguished career, Mrs Robinson has stood for values and principles of peace, democracy and human rights, which go to the heart of the Commonwealth spirit.

Note to Editors:

The Lecture will be held at the Commonwealth Institute at 6.30 p.m. and it will be followed by a question and answer session. For press invitations and other queries call the Communications and Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat on 020 7747 6383/6514.

The full text of Mrs Robinson's address can be found on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, www.unhchr.ch, after the lecture.



The inaugural Commonwealth Lecture, entitled Human Rights: Is there a Commonwealth Perspective?, was delivered in 1998 by Professor Amartya Sen, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the 1998 Nobel Laureate for Economics. Subsequent annual lectures have been delivered by the Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia who spoke on Globalisation and the Nation State, Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General and winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize whose title was Africa: Maintaining the Momentum and Mrs Graça Machel, President of the Foundation for Community Development and Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation whose topic was Gender Inequality: From Roles to Rights.
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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6385/6 Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081
Email: info@commonwealth.int