Year 2003 winner: Mary Robinson

The Winner of the King Hussein Humanitarian Leadership Prize 2003:

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, received the fourth King Hussein Humanitarian Leadership Prize on November 16th 2003 at a ceremony held at the Royal Hashemite Court under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II.

His Majesty King Abdullah, patron of the King Hussein Foundation, presented the award to Mary Robinson for her unrelenting efforts as an advocate of human rights in working to affect social change in her own country and in countries ravaged by conflict for the past 35 years.

Robinson was chosen from among 75 different candidates from 25 countries. She has spent most of her life as a human rights advocate. She has taken a courageous initiative to promote the implementation of human rights in many countries. She has dedicated special attention to the most vulnerable groups, for a serious response to extreme poverty, and for the creation and strengthening of International Penal Law.

“For over three decades, our 2003 Prize recipient has championed freedom and human rights, serving as a voice for those denied those rights, while working to empower them to speak for themselves. As a lawyer, a senator, first woman president of Ireland, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she has always sought to use the law as an instrument of social change.” - Her Majesty Queen Noor speaking at the presentation ceremony.

Queen Noor also added that Mary Robinson “upholds a wider definition of human rights, shared wholeheartedly by the King Hussein Foundation that emphasizes not only what must not be denied, but also what should be enjoyed. Human rights encompass not only freedom from want and freedom from fear, but freedom to think, freedom to speak, and freedom to achieve. Basic human rights must afford to everyone the opportunity to provide for their families, to have a voice in their governments, and to participate in the social, cultural and economic life of their country and the world.”

Robinson said she was honored to be this year’s Prize winner, and described His Late King Hussein as a man with “extraordinary qualities as an individual” and an “admired leader who had guided his people in very difficult and complex times.” She also added that “in seeking to give leadership myself, I have always wanted to encourage young women in particular – but also young men to have the courage to take principled stands in life and if necessary pay the price.”

Mary Robinson is currently leading a new project, the Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI). Its goal is to bring the norms and standards of human rights into the globalization process and to support capacity building in good governance in developing countries. Robinson expressed that the agenda for this new initiative “is quite daunting but this prize gives me new energy and enthusiasm for the task ahead.”