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| United Nations??High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay |
This country is playing host to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, during a three-day official visit which began today.
While here, she is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Freundel Stuart; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean; members of the Cabinet and other senior Government Officials.
The UN High Commissioner will also hold talks with President of the Senate, Her Honour Kerryann Ifill; Leader of the Opposition, the Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur; Ombudsman, Valton Bend; and President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Sir Dennis Byron.?? She will meet with academics and members of civil society as well.
Ms. Pillay, a South African national, was the first woman to open a law practice in her home province of Natal in 1967.?? Over the years, she has acted as a defence attorney for anti-apartheid activists, worked as a lecturer at the University of KawZulu-Natal and was appointed a judge on the South African High Court.??
She also served for eight years as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and in the capacity of President in the last four years.
The High Commissioner’s visit to Barbados will conclude on Thursday, April 5, after she holds a press conference at UN House, Marine Gardens, Hastings, Christ Church at noon.
The Office of the High Commissioner, which was established in 1993, is charged with the mandate to promote and protect all human rights and to administer the world’s commitment to universal ideals of human dignity.