HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO VISIT INDIA

9 November 2001





United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson will visit India between 10 and 19 November 2001. Mrs Robinson will arrive in New Delhi after completing a visit to China.

The visit to India will take place in two phases, with the initial part focusing on the first general meeting of a new non-governmental organization, South Asians for Human Rights. The group, established last year, brings together human rights defenders from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Mrs. Robinson will deliver the meeting’s keynote address on 11 November.

On 12 November, the High Commissioner will meet with representatives of UN agencies and programmes in India, before signing a cooperation agreement with the Asia-Africa Legal Consultative Organization. She will also meet with leaders of the business community in the context of the Global Compact initiative. On 13 November she will travel to Bangkok, Thailand, to meet with officials of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

After returning to New Delhi on 15 November, the High Commissioner will meet with the President, the Chief Justice, the Minister of External Affairs and other senior government officials. She will also meet with Dr. Najma Heptulla, Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament) and President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, as well as with other Parliamentarians.

On 16 November Mrs. Robinson will take part in a Workshop for Judges on the Justiciability of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in South Asia. On 19 November, she will receive the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. Later in the day she will participate in an interactive session on women and human rights organized by India’s National Commission for Women at India International Centre.



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