Mary Robinson shattered the glass ceiling in Ireland when she was elected the country’s first-ever woman president in 1990. A barrister by profession, she went on to serve as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), and was the successor of Nelson Mandela as Chair of The Elders. In the run up to International Women’s Day, an audience in Brussels followed her extraordinary career through the UN Cinema/Ciné-ONU screening of the documentary film ‘Mrs Robinson’.
A champion of human rights
Mary Robinson had a strong commitment to human rights, lobbying for women’s rights and being involved in Ireland’s decriminialisation of homosexuality. She was the first head of state to visit Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide there, and the first to visit Somalia after it suffered from civil war and famine in 1992.
Initially reluctant to agree to a film about her life, Mary Robinson was persuaded to make the documentary to inspire others.
“Everyone can make a difference, and in particular on International Women’s Day,” she told the Brussels cinema audience in a specially recorded message. “That’s the moment when we have to recognise our responsibility, and be ready to make a difference, to create a more just and equal world.”
Caroline Petit, UNRIC Deputy Director and moderator for a panel discussion after the film, shared with the packed cinema audience that Mary Robinson’s message of “We just have to know our power” was her key takeaway from the screening.
A milestone moment for women’s rights
This year is particularly significant for women’s rights, as the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration which recognised women’s rights as human rights.
“Yet, sadly, these rights were not carved in stone. Today they are being attacked like never before,” warned Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Management in a keynote address at the cinema screening. The European Union has just launched a ‘Roadmap for Women’s Rights’, which seeks to make the lives of women and girls “safer, fairer, and brimming with opportunity,” the Commissioner said.
Urgent action on gender equality across the continent is crucial.
“There is no single country in Europe or in the world where gender equality has been achieved,” said Mary Collins, Secretary General of the European Women’s Lobby, which represents over 2000 women’s organisations, during the panel discussion. She shared that a third of women in the EU have experienced violence at home, at work or in public. Women in the EU earn on average less than men. Women’s risk of poverty is also higher.
Women remain under-represented in leadership
With her landmark election victory in Ireland in 1990, Mary Robinson was a pioneer for her time. However, more than 30 years since she came to power, women’s leadership across the globe remains the exception, not the norm.
Last year was the biggest election year in human history, with half of the world’s population going to the polls. However, only five women were elected as heads of state out of 31 presidential elections worldwide.
Warning that the world is at a “tipping point”, Florence Raes, Director of the UN Women Brussels Liaison Office, called for more women in leadership roles.
“It is not just the moral or legal thing to do to have women in decision making, it is also smart for solutions, results and efficiencies”.
Katie Brill, Director of Partnerships and Communications at Junk Kouture, an Irish sustainable fashion initiative that challenges young people across the globe to make create designs out of recycled waste. She represented the voice of young people and the crucial need for them to be involved in the conversation and actions about not just their future, but also their present.
“Creativity and innovation are all key skills we need to carry into our thinking. The bright ideas of young people, they need to be heard.”
A key message on climate
At age eighty, Mary Robinson is still engaged on a world stage and is gripped by climate justice.
The film on Mary Robinson depicts both her past achievements as well as her present focus on Project Dandelion, a women-led climate justice movement which she co-founded. The project calls on individuals to join forces and tackle the urgent climate crisis, an objective shared by the European Climate Pact initiative presented by panelist Leonardo Di Fillipo, Team Leader of the European Climate Pact initiative at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action.
“It’s important to have feminist solutions to this problem, which is why it’s very important to have women in leadership, especially for climate,” said Leonardo Di Fillipo during the panel. The European Commission has a women leader, Ursula von der Leyen, at its helm, and it is seeking to mainstream gender equality into its policies, particularly those related to climate.
As the panel concluded, UN Women’s Florence Raes urged the audience to be inspired by Mary Robinson’s energy and to march towards gender equality this upcoming International Women’s Day on 8th March.
This screening was organised by the United Nations in Brussels, the Representation of the European Commission in Belgium, the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union and Project Dandelion.
More information
- Ciné ONU – United Nations Cinema
- Become a Dandelion with Project Dandelion
- Join the European Climate Pact Team on AWorld today
- Find out more about the Mrs Robinson documentary film