International Humanitarian Law Project public lecture

Giving Peace a Chance: the rule of law during peace building

The end of a conflict does not mean the end of social, legal and economic discrimination and marginalization of groups; nor does it in any way mean rights protection challenges of a lesser order. Recovery of war torn communities is a long and fraught process and depends integrally on measures in place to restore civil, political, economic and social rights. In UNHCR's experience, there is a direct link between return and restoration of the rights of displaced populations, and the consolidation of peace. Where peace processes ignore root causes of displacement and relegate return of the displaced to the realm of logistics, not rights, peace seldom lasts. The United Nations reform process has opened up new prospects for greater synergies between agencies with protection mandates and the mandates of peace missions.

Erika Feller is assistant high commissioner for protection in the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. It carries the level of UN Assistant Secretary General. Her professional career, now spanning 34 years, has had a predominantly international law focus. It has included 14 years and three international postings with the Australian Diplomatic Service, followed by 20 years of progressively more senior appointments with the UN, working predominantly with the theory and the practice of international human rights and refugee law. Ms Feller has served for UNHCR in Geneva, but also as the Representative in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Concurrently with this position, she was appointed Regional Coordinator for Status Determination under the Comprehensive Plan of Action to resolve the Indo-Chinese Refugee problem.

Ms Feller has travelled extensively, thoughout Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, for the purposes of negotiations with Governments on their asylum policies and practices. She was the initiator and manager of the 2001-2 Global Consultations on International Protection, which generated the Agenda for Protection, the internationally endorsed global "road map" on protection policy for the years ahead. Her job has had her running refugee camps and undertaking protection oversight missions to the large majority of the major refugee emergencies of recent years, for example in West Africa, Darfur and Chad, the Caucusus, the Balkans, Colombia or Timor. In her current position, Ms Feller's responsibilities include oversight of age, gender and diversity mainstreaming and accountability in UNHCR programs. She is an academically acknowledged authority on refugee law, has published widely in Journals and is co-editor of a book on Refugee Protection in International Law.

Register to tell a friend about this lecture.

Comments

If you would like to comment about this lecture, please register here.

©2003-2006 Niminim Limited. Created by

Any ad revenue is entirely reinvested into the Lecture List's operating fund