On Inside Geneva this week: part two of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Imogen Foulkes talks to Mary Robinson, the second person to serve as UN Human Rights Commissioner. Even as a schoolgirl in Ireland, she was already passionate about human rights.\xa0
\u2018I was a bit of a bookworm, and I found a book with a photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt holding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That iconic photo.\u2019
She became a campaigning lawyer, and then Ireland\u2019s first female president, but still wanted to do more.
\u2018There was this office of High Commissioner which I was aware of. In fact, I'd seen some of its work in Rwanda, which had been very difficult work. All my knowledgeable friends said \u2018you know Mary I wouldn't take that job\u2019.\u2019
Her time as Human Rights Commissioner was challenging.
\u2018I remember feeling to myself, I'm going to get on top of this somehow. This job is impossible, everything is very very difficult, it's extremely hard work but somehow I\u2019m going to get on top of it. And it got better.\u2019
\u2018Some governments were critical\u2026\u2019
\u2018Over and over again, I kept saying to myself \u2018I represent the first three words of the charter of the United Nations: we the peoples. That's what I represent. Not the states.\u2019
Today, her commitment is undimmed..
\u2018Human rights is the answer.\xa0 We need to understand that everyone has these core human rights, that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. That this is who we are.\u2019
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