Interview with Renowned Human Rights Activist, Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson will be present at the International Women’s Summit on July 12^th  to launch the first Mary Robinson Award for Young Women’s Leadership in Human Rights. An inspiring interview was carried out with Ms Robinson and clear insight into her work and opinions were shared with us.

1) You have been an advocate for human rights for many years – what has been your motivation?

I often joke that my early interest in human rights stems from the fact that I grew-up between four brothers – two older and two younger. Certainly from a very early stage I had a sense of wanting to promote a greater fairness and greater equality and wanting to do what I could to change things that needed changing. For instance, in Ireland itself the laws that were reflective of the Roman Catholic religion encroached on areas of family planning, and then later the need for more social justice and the link with the international human rights agenda

2) What needs to be achieved in order for women and girls to live in a safe world?

Given the alarmingly high levels of violence world wide, women and girls need better protection, especially from violence in the home and in the street, or when they walk long distances to fetch water or food for the family. This is not just an issue for developing countries. Violence needs to be addressed in a more fundamental way, and women and girls, especially girls, need to know their rights and their own self-worth. Education is, therefore, extremely important in promoting the confidence and self-esteem of girls growing into young women, mothers, and grandmothers. Part of protection also means that we have to address some of the stigma that stems from stereotyping and that is often associated with bad religious practice. I am part of a group called the “Elders” that Nelson Mandela brought together, and we have issued a strong statement addressing the way in which religion and tradition can be misused to subjugate women, and how subjugation and the secondary position of women can often also lead to, or be a form of, violence.

3) At the IWS we will be launching the first Mary Robinson Award for Young Women’s Leadership in Human Rights. What does this award mean to you and why is it important to recognise the role of young women in human rights? 

At the International Women’s Summit in Kenya in 2007, the previous General Secretary of the World YWCA, Musimbi Kanyaro, announced the launch of the Mary Robinson Award. I was very touched and moved, and I was glad that it was an award for young women’s leadership in human rights. This award will be a way of encouraging young women to think about human rights and to be local champions in whichever way they can. This type of award, which encourages young women in their confidence, awareness and knowledge is ideal, and it is a link that I really value. I am very honoured that precisely that type of award would be given my name.

4) At the beginning of your career you pushed for access to family planning and throughout the years you have continuously dared to push for change. What do you see as one of your most significant achievements around human rights?

I’ve always felt that the work I do is part of the teamwork done by others and I happen to quite often be the more visible person. For example, when I was serving as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, I was reflecting the work of the team of the Office, but also the work of the rapporteurs who were doing hugely important work on human rights defenders, about combating torture, etc… More recently when I was working with my colleagues in realising rights, I was the voice but I would not have been able to be as effective without the team. Similarly, through my Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation on Climate Justice, which links human rights development and the undermining of development by climate change which the rich world is responsible for, I feel an important sense of trying to link those three elements by talking about climate justice – but I would not be able to be the voice that I am without the expertise of others in the Foundation. So I never feel that what I have achieved has been a solo run, on the contrary it has been the fruit of very generous and very informed teamwork.

5) As an empowered woman who has achieved many things in her life and has raised her voice against many injustices, can you give some words of advice to other women who wish to have a voice and to make a change in their communities?

I have always felt that everyone matters and everyone can make a difference. It is, indeed, written in Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.” Therefore, as part of human rights there is a responsibility of knowing what you can do by way of duty to the community, and I hope that that recognition would also be a way of encouraging more confidence in women and their abilities. It is interesting that boys and men instinctively seem to feel that they can do things, make a difference and have their voice heard. For women, and young girls in particular, there are more inhibitions, less confidence; there is more thinking “can I really do this?” So, encouragement and recognition of the importance of the contribution of women and girls is very important, and if this award can help, I will be very pleased.

6) And on a different note, one of the things we also know about you is that you love to dance and that you enjoy very much the opportunity to celebrate and dance with other women. Is there an artist or a particular song that speaks to your heart and makes you want to dance?

I have come to know and hugely admire Angelique Kidjo. She has been on work visits to Eastern Chad, for example, to see women and their families that flee from Darfur, or are internally displaced within Chad. I have had the opportunity to sing and dance to her music.

In my inaugural address as the first women President of Ireland in December 1990, I ended with an ancient Gaelic poem which had been re-captured by a famous Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, and the lines are: “I am of Ireland, come dance with me in Ireland.” Of course it got me into quite a lot of trouble because I hadn’t meant that people should come and physically dance with me, but rather come celebrate the deep culture, richness, all that is embodied in the identity of a country and that is composed of those who make up the country. I think the reason why I love to dance is that we talk through dance, we affirm each other, we have fun, and I find that affirmation through dance is something I really enjoy.