The Protection of Women and Children during Armed Conflict. Whose Responsbility?
Public Lecture
Thursday 13 December 2007 @ 06:00 pm - 07:00 pmCarrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre
THE 2007 CHANCELLOR'S HUMAN RIGHTS LECTURE
While the political and economic ramifications of war and armed intervention make news headlines on a daily basis, behind the scenes the United Nations works to assess, and hopefully intervene in, the brutality and violence that impacts people who through no fault of their own find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time: in the middle of a war zone. All too often, those people are women and children.
Radhika Coomaraswamy is the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and in a free public lecture at the University of Melbourne, she will speak about the challenges and complexity of protecting the innocent and vulnerable during times of international or civil violence.
The lecture will address women and children’s actual experience of armed conflict, and cover relevant international standards, norms and cases. Finally, Ms Coomaraswamy will reflect on the “responsibility to protect” with particular reference to women and children.
Radhika Coomaraswamy was appointed Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict in April 2006 and in this capacity serves as a moral voice and independent advocate to build awareness and give prominence to the rights and protection of boys and girls affected by armed conflict.
A lawyer by training and formerly the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, she is an internationally known human rights advocate who is acknowledged for having done outstanding work as the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (1994-2003).
In her reports to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, she has written on violence in the family, violence in the community, violence against women during armed conflict and the problem of international trafficking. A strong advocate on women’s rights, she has intervened on behalf of countless women throughout the world seeking clarification from Governments in cases involving violence against women.
Ms Coomaraswamy is a graduate of the United Nations International School in New York. She received her BA from Yale University, her JD from Columbia University, an LLM from Harvard University and has honorary PhDs from Amherst College, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Essex.
Admission is free. Bookings are essential.
To register please email community-relations@unimelb.edu.au with 'Human Rights' in the subject heading or phone (03) 8344 1176.
Enquiries:
Chris Fargher
+61 3 8344 1176
community-relations@ unimelb.edu.au
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RSVP:
community-relations@ unimelb.edu.au