Event title: ¡°Women Who Shaped the Universal Declaration of Human Rights¡± side event of the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
Date: Thursday, 20 March, 9:00 ¨C 10:30 EDT
Modality: Virtual side event over Microsoft Teams
Registration: The event has now ended. A recording is available below.
Organizers:
- United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI)
- Human Rights team of the UN Department of Global Communications
Description:
This event reflected on the significant contributions of women in the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The discussion also explored the historical context, challenges these pioneering women faced, and the profound impact and legacies of their work on contemporary movements for gender equality and the work of the United Nations, as well as addressing current advocacy efforts for gender equality and human rights globally. The event featured individual interventions by speakers and multimedia presentations, followed by a moderated discussion based on questions from the audience submitted via chat.
Run of Event
Opening 9:00 - 9:10 am EST
- Remarks by Ms. Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Human Rights Office
- Remarks by Ms. Nanette Braun, Director, Campaigns and Country Operations Division, United Nations Department of Global Communications
Experts Panel 9:11 - 9:51 am EST
Moderator: Jayashri Wyatt, Chief, Education Outreach Section, Outreach Division, United Nations Department of Global Communications
- Amb. Gertrude Mongella, Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995
- Mrs. Anna Fierst, Great Granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center
- Prof. Rebecca Adami, Associate Professor at Stockholm University
- Prof. Manu Bhagavan, Professor in the Department of History, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Q&A Session 9:52 - 10:21 am EST
Closing 10:22 - 10:30 am EST
Further Resources
- Women Who Shaped the Universal Declaration exhibit by the United Nations
- , video footage by the United Nations
- , video footage by the United Nations
- , UN News interview
Women Who Shaped the Universal Declaration of Human Rights¡± side event
Featured Speakers
Ms. Ilze Brands Kehris
Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Human Rights Office
Ms. Brands Kehris combines extensive expertise in political science, conflict prevention and human rights, with a specialisation in minority rights, and long-standing experience in intergovernmental fora and with civil society organisations. From 2017 to 2019, Ms. Brands Kehris served as independent Expert Member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the treaty body monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Between 2016 and 2019, she served as a senior research fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund University, in Sweden. She has previously held several leadership positions in national and regional level human rights organisations, including as Member and Chairperson of the Management Board of the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency.
Ms. Nanette Braun
Director, Campaigns and Country Operations Division, United Nations Department of Global Communications
Ms. Nanette Braun is Director of the Communications Campaigns Service in the UN Department of Global Communications. Prior to the current appointment, Ms. Braun headed the communications and public advocacy departments at UN Women, the women¡¯s rights organization of the UN, and at UN Volunteers, which facilitates the deployment of thousands of volunteers annually in support of the United Nations¡¯ peace, humanitarian and development efforts.
Ambassador Gertrude Mongella
Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995
Ambassador Gertrude Mongella of Tanzania was the Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. An educator, a defender of women rights, a politician and a diplomat, Ambassador Mongella was a Member of the Parliament in Tanzania, as well as in the East African Legislative Assembly and the Pan-African Parliament. She served in the Prime Minister¡¯s office responsible for Women¡¯s Affairs from 1982 to 1985, and acted as Under-Secretary and Special Envoy to the Secretary General of the United Nations on Women's Issues and Development (1996-1997). Ambassador Mongella continues to be committed to the political integration of Africa, as well as championing a strong involvement of women in political leadership.
Mrs. Anna Fierst
Great Granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center
Anna is a great-granddaughter of Eleanor Roosevelt and the daughter of Mrs. Roosevelt¡¯s oldest grandchild, Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves. Anna has a professional background in publication editing and marketing and managed the communications department at the Woman¡¯s National Democratic Club before becoming its president in 2013. She now chairs the Board of the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill to promote the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her main goal now is to modernize one of ERVK¡¯s ¡°legacy¡± programs and build programming support for this and a bold new endeavor, the annual Bravery in Literature Award. A native of New York State and Washington DC, Anna currently serves as the Vice Chair of the National Women¡¯s Foundation, an organization that promotes women¡¯s history, youth voting and civic engagement.
Dr. Rebecca Adami
Associate Professor at Stockholm University
Dr. Rebecca Adami is a Professor and Senior Researcher at Stockholm University, Sweden, specializing in human rights studies on women and UN history, cosmopolitanism and ethics, and children¡¯s rights. Author of ¡°Women and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights¡± (2019) and co-author of ¡°Women and the UN: a new history of women's international human rights¡± (2022), Dr. Adami received the 2022 Bertha Lutz Prize for highest quality public writing and research on women in diplomacy from the Diplomatic Studies Section of the International Studies Association.
Dr. Manu Bhagavan
Professor in the Department of History, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York
Dr. Manu Bhagavan is Professor of History, Human Rights, and Public Policy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York, and Senior Fellow at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. He authored the biography of Madame Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly, based on eight years of research, using material in five languages from over forty archives. Dr. Bhagavan is the recipient of Hunter college¡¯s 2023 Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship.
Ms. Jayashri Wyatt
Chief, Education Outreach Section, UN Department of Global Communications
Ms. Jayashri Wyatt is the Chief of Education Outreach, in the UN Department of Global Communications. She is a seasoned communications professional with a wealth of experience in the United Nations System producing high-level events, advocacy campaigns, and films for the Department of Global Communications, UNICEF, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Ms. Wyatt also has nearly a decade of experience as an educator championing women¡¯s empowerment and gender equality.