Victims’ Rights in the United Nations

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Lecture by Jane Connors, Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations.
Discussion moderated by Anne Charbord, Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs faculty member and international human rights lawyer.
Enrico Letta, Dean of the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs, will introduce the lecture.
“Since its foundation in 1945, the United Nations’ role in situations of conflict, humanitarian crisis and development has expanded and diversified. As it has done so, victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations personnel have come forward, reporting their experiences to United Nations and civil society staff, the media and others. Over the past 20 years, the United Nations has developed and implemented increasingly comprehensive system-wide policies to prevent and respond to these harmful behaviours. In 2017, the United Nations Secretary-General introduced a “new approach” to these endeavours, which places the rights and dignity of victims at the forefront, including by creating the position of Victims’ Rights Advocate (VRA).” (Extract from article by Jane Connors, Australian Journal of Human Rights)
Jane Connors was appointed to her present role in August 2017. In her previous roles, she was Amnesty International’s Director of International Advocacy, and in 1996 she joined the United Nations where she worked until March 2015, in positions at headquarters in New York and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Before joining the United Nations, Ms Connors was a law teacher at leading universities in the United Kingdom and Australia.
An international human rights lawyer, focusing on human rights and security, Dr. Anne Charbord is currently legal advisor to the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism. At PSIA, she teaches a course on “The Human Rights Impact of Countering and Preventing Terrorism and Violent Extremism.”
Portrait of Jane Connors © United Nations