Human rights standards across the world "cry out for fresh approaches" and the failure of the international community to do so "shames us all", the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, said in Oxford last night.
After attending the inauguration of her successor at Dublin Castle, the former President delivered one of her strongest speeches on human rights in the world since taking on her UN role. It was the start of a three-day visit to Britain. She will lunch with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace tomorrow. She said next year's anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights could not be said to be an occasion for celebration because global achievements on the issue were "quite underwhelming".
Delivering the Romanes Lecture at Oxford University, she said that although the declaration had been written 50 years ago, it had produced only modest results.
"We still have widespread discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, religious belief or sexual orientation and there is still genocide - twice in this decade alone . . . This is a failure of implementation on a scale which shames us all. So much effort, money and hopes have produced modest results . . . It's time instead for a lessons learned exercise," Mrs Robinson said.
She described the "daunting role" she faced as a commissioner and the "inner sense of justice" she hoped to bring to the job. "The task is not easy, particularly because the expression `human rights' carries different meanings, resonates differently in various parts of the world, and within countries depending on political preferences, ethnic association, religious views and, importantly, economic status."
She will receive a World Citizenship Award from the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts this morning in the National History Museum in London, and this evening she will be awarded an honorary degree by the University of London.