Irene Khan "The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights"

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Irene Khan joined Amnesty International as Secretary General in August 2001. The first woman, first Asian and first Muslim to head the world’s largest human rights organization, she has led AI through developments in the wake of September 11, confronting the backlash against human rights; broadening the work of the organization in areas of economic, social and cultural rights; and bringing a strong focus to the issue of women’s human rights and violence against women.

Irene reformed Amnesty International’s response to crisis situations, personally leading high level missions to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel/Occupied Territories, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo,Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Spain, Thailand, the Darfur region of Sudan and Nepal.

Interested in working directly with people to change their lives, Irene helped to found the development organization, Concern Universal, in 1977, and began her work as a human rights activist with the International Commission of Jurists in 1979.

Irene joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1980, and worked in a variety of positions at Headquarters and in field operations to promote the international protection of refugees. From 1991-95 she was Senior Executive Officer to Mrs. Sadako Ogata, then UN High Commissioner for Refugees. She was appointed as the UNHCR Chief of Mission in India in 1995, the youngest UNHCR country representative at that time, and in 1998 headed the UNHCR Centre for Research and Documentation. She led the UNHCR team in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia during the Kosovo crisis in 1999, and was appointed Deputy Director of International Protection later that year.

Irene studied law at the University of Manchester and Harvard Law School, specialising in public international law and human rights. She is the recipient of several academic awards, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, the 2006 City of Sydney Peace Prize, the Pilkington “Woman of the Year” Award 2002, and the John Owens Distinguished Alumni Award of the University of Manchester. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London (UK), Ghent University (Belgium), Manchester University (UK), Ferris University (Japan), Staffordshire University (UK), University at Buffalo Law School - State University of New York (USA), and the American University of Beirut (Lebanon). She has been voted one of the 100 Most Influential Asians and one of the 100 Most Influential Muslims in the UK.

She is the author of The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights which will be on sale at the lecture.

She is a 2009 Recipient of the IGL Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award.