 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
Fulbright Association
1100 G Street, N.W.
Suite 525
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: (202) 347-5543
Fax: (202) 347-6540 |
|
 |
United Nations High Commissioner Mary Robinson
Awarded 1999 J. William Fulbright Prize
For International Understanding |
| UN High Commissioner for Human Rights "Emblematic of a New Era"
The 1999 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding was awarded
to Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former
president of Ireland. The first woman to serve in either of these positions,
High Commissioner Robinson was honored in a ceremony at the State Department on
October 8. |
| Since her appointment as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan in June 1997, Mrs. Robinson has consistently stressed the
need for action in the struggle to extend the full range of human rights to all
citizens. She has insisted that the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights be put into practice and not remain
abstract ideals. |
| "Mary Robinson is emblematic of a new era not only in Irish but also in world
affairs," said Ambassador James T. Laney, chairman of the international
selection committee for the Fulbright Prize. "As a champion of justice and
economic betterment and as an advocate for peace and human rights, she
represents a new kind of thinking and presence needed among the world’s
leaders." |
| The Fulbright Association created the J. William Fulbright Prize for
International Understanding in 1993 with a grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation
to recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions toward
bringing peoples, cultures or nations to greater understanding of others.
Previous recipients of the award are former South African President Nelson
Mandela, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Austrian Federal Chancellor
Franz Vranitzky, former Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino, Czech Republic
President Václav Havel, and former Chilean President Patricio Aylwin Azócar. The
Fulbright Prize carries a $50,000 award provided by The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Ronald J. Ross, M.D., president of the Fulbright Association’s Board of
Directors, said, "Mary Robinson has continually demonstrated that rare quality
we often hope for in leaders: the ability to bring disparate groups together to
work for the greater good. She has shown herself to be a woman of strong
principle whose work to uphold justice and human dignity is a challenge and an
inspiration to the global community." |
| As president of Ireland, Mary Robinson made inclusiveness a hallmark during her
widely-praised tenure. She used her office not only for the betterment of
marginalized groups within Ireland but also to draw attention to global crises.
She was the first head of state to visit famine-stricken Somalia in 1992 and
also the first to go to Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide there. Drawing
on Ireland’s own history of colonialism and famine, she articulated a special
relationship between Ireland and developing countries, particularly in Africa.
Her humanitarian efforts as president, her background in human rights law, and
her uncompromising pursuit of justice and equality made her a prime candidate
for the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. |
| As High Commissioner, Mary Robinson is responsible for the human rights
activities of the United Nations, including an initiative known as the United
Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, launched in 1995 in response to a
call made at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights for improved human rights
education. Objectives of the Decade include promotion of human rights education
in schools, strengthening the media’s role in human rights education, and the
global dissemination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mrs. Robinson
has announced that she will donate the $50,000 Fulbright Prize award to support
activities of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. |
| Serving on the international committee convened by the Fulbright Association to
select the 1999 laureate were Dr. Anton Amon, senior vice president, The
Coca-Cola Company; Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyaya, chairman and founder of the
Indian Council of Philosophical Research; Dr. Fawziya bint Nasser Al Farsi,
undersecretary for general education, Ministry of Education, Sultanate of Oman;
Prof. Peter Katjavivi, founding vice chancellor, University of Namibia; and
Minister Paulo Renato Souza, minister of education and sports, Brazil. Dr.
Laney, former U.S. ambassador to Korea and president emeritus of Emory
University, served as the committee’s chairman for a third year. Both Dr. Amon
and Prof. Chattopadhyaya are former recipients of Fulbright grants. |
| The Fulbright Association is a private, non-profit organization that supports
and promotes the Fulbright Program, an international educational and cultural
exchange initiative created in 1946 by legislation sponsored by the late Senator
J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. There are now over 200,000 Fulbright alumni
throughout the world. |
| See also: |
|
|
|
