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.
“I have accepted a request from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to be the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region. I accepted the position on the understanding that I will continue to actively serve as President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice.
I firmly believe that climate change is the biggest human rights issue of the 21st century as it is impacting on people’s rights and it is undermining development, and it is significant that the Secretary-General appreciated the importance of this work on climate justice and my commitment to it”.
I am honoured that the Secretary-General has entrusted to me this important responsibility, to which I am already focusing my energies.
The latest developments in the eastern DRC, where recent fighting between two factions of the M23 led to several hundred people, including combatants, crossing into Rwanda, underscores the importance of the Peace Security and Cooperation Framework as an instrument to address the root causes of instability in the Great Lakes region.
I plan to work closely with the leaders of the region to ensure that the presence of combatants in their territories is addressed by their respective Governments, in the context of the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework. In this respect, I call on States of the region to cooperate with the International Criminal Court.
I plan to travel in the coming weeks to the Great Lakes region to meet with the leaders of the countries signatories to the Framework, and to work with them towards the implementation of their commitments.” New York, 19 March 2013
Secretary-General Appoints Mary Robinson of Ireland as Special Envoy for the 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. Mrs Robinson 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.
Mary Robinson brings with her more than four decades of political and diplomatic experience. She served as President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and was a member of the Irish Senate from 1969 to 1989. Mrs Robinson has considerable international experience, most notably as the 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 marginalised across the world. The Secretary-General appreciates the importance of this work and Mrs Robinson’s commitment to it.
From 2002 to 2010, Mary Robinson led the organisation Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative, whose core activities included strengthening women’s leadership and encouraging corporate responsibility. Mrs Robinson is internationally renowned for championing human rights, is a member of the Elders and serves on the Board and Prize Committee of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.