Work with The Elders
Mary Robinson has been a member of The Elders since the group was founded in 2007 and makes it a priority to bring the concerns of ordinary people to the global stage.
She joined both Elders’ delegations to the Middle East (October 2010, August 2009) to encourage peace efforts, amplify the voices of ordinary Palestinians and Israelis, and support those working for peaceful coexistence, including groups engaged in non-violent protest.
In April 2011 she travelled to the Korean Peninsula with Martti Ahtisaari, Gro Brundtland and Jimmy Carter where, after seeing first-hand the extent of North Korea’s chronic food crisis, she urged international donors to prioritise the basic right to food and health irrespective of political considerations.
Mrs Robinson joined Kofi Annan and Desmond Tutu in Côte d'Ivoire in May 2011, in the aftermath of widespread civil conflict in the country. In meetings with political leaders and women’s organisations, she emphasised the importance of women’s involvement in peace-building and reconciliation processes.
A tireless champion of women’s equality, she also travelled to Ethiopia in June 2011 with her fellow Elders to convene an international meeting of experts and activists working to end child marriage.
First woman President of Ireland
Mary Robinson was elected Irish President in 1990 and served for seven years as a principled and transformative leader who continued to fight for equality and women’s rights throughout her time in office. A firm believer in dialogue and reconciliation, she broke taboos by being the first Irish head of state to make official visits to Britain, as well as regularly visiting Northern Ireland.
She was the first head of state to visit Somalia following the crisis there in 1992, and brought global media attention to the suffering of Rwandans as the first Head of State to visit the country just after the 1994 genocide.
Human rights champion
As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), Mary Robinson integrated human rights into the United Nations system and became renowned as an outspoken voice dedicated to investigating and exposing human rights abuses across the world.
Mary Robinson founded Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, which aimed to put human rights standards at the heart of global governance and to ensure that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage.
As an academic, legislator and barrister, Mary Robinson has always sought to use law as an instrument for social change, arguing landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights as well as in the Irish courts and the European Court in Luxembourg. A committed European, she also served on expert European Community and Irish parliamentary committees. In 1988 Mary Robinson and her husband founded the Irish Centre for European Law at Trinity College, the University of Dublin. Ten years later she was elected Chancellor of the University.
Tackling global issues
Currently based in Dublin, Mary Robinson heads the Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice, a centre for education and advocacy on sustainable and people-centred development in the world’s poorest communities.
She co-founded the Council of Women World Leaders, a network that mobilises women leaders at the highest levels to promote democracy and gender equality. She is a member of the Club of Madrid, a group of global leaders working on governance and conflict issues. She is also:
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