First Thursday Briefing of the Season: One-on-One with the Assistant Secretary-General, Victims' Rights Advocate for the United Nations
Join us for a dialogue with Assistant Secretary-General Jane Connors on her role as the first UN Victims’ Rights Advocate on sexual exploitation and abuse.
Date: Thursday, 18 January 2018
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 3, UN Headquarters, New York
Panel
Moderator
Raeshem Nijhon, Fictionless
Raeshem Nijhon is the Co-Founder and Executive Producer of NYC based media company Fictionless, she manages strategic partnerships and oversees end-to-end production across platforms. One of her current projects is the feature documentary, The Agreement, in partnership with the Gates Foundation and the United Nations Foundation. Ms. Nijhon is a passionate advocate for women and girls, committed to educating women about sexual health and safety through a partnership with the NYU Department of Population Health. She sits on the Creative Council for EMILY'S List, the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network and the board for the New York Center for Communications.
Speaker
Assistant Secretary-General, Victims' Rights Advocate for the United Nations Jane Connors
Jane Connors is the United Nations Victims’ Rights Advocate on sexual exploitation and abuse. Previously, she served as the Director of International Advocacy for Amnesty International. From 1996 to 2015 she held various positions at the United Nations, including at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Before joining the UN, she held academic posts in the United Kingdom and Australia, including 14 years at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Ms. Connors has published widely on UN human rights mechanisms, the human rights of women and children, in particular, gender-based violence.
Briefing Summary
In a candid conversation with civil society at the first DPI NGO Relations Briefing of 2018, the first Assistant Secretary-General, Victims’ Rights Advocate for sexual exploitation and abuse, Jane Connors discussed her new role within the United Nations and her plans for the upcoming year.
Ms. Connors emphasized that under her new role, she will be working across the UN system to amplify the voices of men and women who have been victims of sexual exploitation and abuse at the hands of those representing the UN flag.
“My role is certainly an extremely difficult one and one that is new to the UN. It is to put the rights and dignity of victims at the forefront of the UN’s efforts against sexual exploitation and abuse”, said Ms. Connors.
Ms. Connors started her position in September 2017 and has already travelled to the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan to meet with victims. The visits had a profound effect on Ms. Connors who underscored that her office will continue working with the victims’ moving forward.
During her tenure, Ms. Connors underscored four main goals for her office. These goals include: mapping and identifying victims’ rights approaches across the UN, collecting best practices from member states, convening a consultation of external experts and crafting communications products to allow for the work of her office to raise more awareness in communities.
Ms. Connors believes that even one allegation against the UN is too many and hopes to use her role to generate awareness around victims and provide them with pathways to report such abuses.
