Julie Bishop address to Council 2010
Sir Ron Wilson Human Rights Award
ACFID Media Release
22 October 2008
16/08
Embargoed till 2 pm 23 October 2008SIR RON WILSON HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
The Hon Mrs Margaret Reid, President of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), will today present the fourth Sir Ron Wilson Human Rights Award to Ms Janet Hunt.
The Sir Ron Wilson Human Rights Award recognises an outstanding contribution to advancing human rights in the international development sector.
Ms Janet Hunt has worked tirelessly on many different human rights issues over the years, including on the right to self-determination, the rights of women and the rights of the poorest and most marginalised to a decent livelihood and to live in dignity.
“Ms Hunt became engaged from the early 1980s on issues of de-colonisation for the indigenous peoples of the Pacific, particularly East Timor, New Caledonia and French Polynesia, and developed a strong focus on the rights of Indigenous Australians,” Mrs Reid said. “Global inequality and the rights of the world’s poorest to live with dignity was a constant theme in Janet’s work.”
Ms Hunt has worked with the forerunner of ACFID, the Australian Council for Overseas Aid, and was the Executive Director of the International Women’s Development Agency.
Currently Ms Hunt is a researcher at the Australian National University where she has paved new ground in examining governance matters in Indigenous communities.
The ACFID award is named after Sir Ronald Wilson who retired as a High Court judge in 1989, going on to become president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He investigated the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families and communities and co-authored the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report.
For further information, contact:
Paul O'Callaghan
Ph: 0434 142 069
Presentation of the Award at the Marque Hotel, 102 Northbourne Ave, CANBERRA at 2.15 pm. Media Welcome.
Long Term Afghanistan Aid Commitment Applauded
ACFID’s Dr Susan Harris Rimmer discusses the Federal Budget with Albion Harrison-Naish from 2ser’s AidWorks