Andrew Gilmour (UN official)

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Andrew James Gilmour CMG (born March 1964) is CEO of the Berghof Foundation.[1] He was formerly United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, until 2019, and also served as Director for Political, Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Human Rights affairs in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, from 2012 to 2016.[2]

An environmentalist since joining the WWF at the age of 10,[3] he has published articles on the links between climate change, environmental degradation, human rights and conflict for Bloomberg[4] and Frankfurter Allgememeine Zeitung.[5]

Family

Andrew Gilmour is the youngest son of the British cabinet minister and political thinker Lord (Ian) Gilmour of Craigmillar and Lady Caroline Montagu Douglas Scott (daughter of the 8th Duke of Buccleuch). He is the brother of the historian Sir David Gilmour. He is a first cousin of Richard Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch, one of the largest private landowners in Scotland, and Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland.

He is married to medical doctor and author Emma Williams.

Education

Gilmour was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Modern History and won the Gladstone Memorial Prize (1986) for his thesis on The Changing Reactions of the British press to Mussolini, 1935–40.[6] He undertook a master's degree at the London School of Economics in Government and International Relations in 1986–87.

He is a Senior Fellow of SOAS University of London[7] and a Visiting Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.

UN career

Gilmour joined the United Nations in 1989 and worked in Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, the Middle East, West Africa, and the Balkans. In 2016, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights,[8] a post he held for over three years until the end of 2019, when he left the UN aged 55. During this period he was assigned the role of UN system-wide focal point for dealing with reprisals and intimidation that are carried out, usually by Governments, against individuals or NGOs who have cooperated with or seek to cooperate with the UN on human rights issues. He was a vocal defender of human rights activists who are under growing threats and pressure for their work.[9]

He has spoken out against human rights violations carried out against the Rohingya people of Myanmar,[10] the Palestinians,[11] the Syrian people and victims in many other countries including China, Egypt,[12] Libya[13] and the Philippines.[14][15] These followed in particular after his visits to Yemen,[16] Democratic Republic of Congo,[17] South Sudan,[18] Kenya, Liberia,[19] Mali,[20] Burkina Faso, Central African Republic,[21] Afghanistan,[22] Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Honduras,[23] and Colombia.[24] 

He has also been an advocate in favour of LGBT rights,[25] victims of torture, rape survivors especially among the Yazidis and Rohingya, and indigenous peoples' rights.[26]

Gilmour was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to human rights.[27]

Publications

Gilmour published a short history of the UN's involvement in the Middle East from 1945 to 2015.[28]  He has also published in the Financial Times,[29] the New York Times,[30] the Guardian,[31]  Bloomberg,[32] The Nation,[33] and other world publications, including in Africa[34] and Latin America.[35]

He also published "The future of human rights: A view from the UN",  in the Journal of Ethics and International Affairs.[36]

References

  1. ^ "Andrew Gilmour appointed new Executive Director of the Berghof Foundation". Berghof Foundation. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  2. ^ "OHCHR | Andrew Gilmour". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  3. ^ "'Climate change is going to bring the worst human rights violations of all time' - interview with Andrew Gilmour". 24 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Preventing Climate Change is a Human Rights Issue". Bloomberg. 2 February 2020.
  5. ^ Gilmour, Andrew; Edenhofer, Ottmar (12 August 2021). "Die Wissenschaftsgemeinden müssen Grenzen überschreiten - Bild 2 von 5". Faz.net.
  6. ^ Bouverie, Tim (2019). Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Hitler and the Road to War. pp. Quoted in.
  7. ^ "Andrew Gilmour | SOAS".
  8. ^ "Secretary-General Appoints Andrew Gilmour of United Kingdom Assistant Secretary-General in New York Human Rights Office | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  9. ^ "UN's Andrew Gilmour reports a global backlash against human rights defenders | DW | 12.09.2018". DW.COM. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  10. ^ "Pregnant Rohingya Refugees Are in Desperate Need". Bloomberg. 9 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Former UN official slams Israel 'humiliation' of Palestinians". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  12. ^ "OHCHR | Report highlights rising reprisals against human rights defenders cooperating with the UN". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  13. ^ EDT, David Brennan On 3/21/18 at 10:55 AM (2018-03-21). "Humans for sale: The Libyan slave trade continues while militants kill and torture with impunity, the U.N. has said". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-03-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Statement by Andrew Gilmour, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights". 17 October 2017.
  15. ^ Interaksyon (2017-06-20). "'GHOULISH' | UN exec slams Duterte, as he sounds alarm over backsliding human rights worldwide". Interaksyon. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  16. ^ "OHCHR | Senior UN rights official concludes visit to Yemen, urges warring parties to prevent renewed fighting". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  17. ^ "RDC: Andrew Gilmour appelle au respect du droit de manifester". RFI (in French). 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  18. ^ "OHCHR | South Sudan: Senior UN human rights official condemns deplorable rights situation, calls for perpetrators to be held to account". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  19. ^ Jackson, Omari (2017-08-08). "'Justice Will Catch Up With Them,' Says Andrew Gilmour, UN Asst. SG for Human Rights". Liberian Observer. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  20. ^ "OHCHR | Mali: Senior UN official calls for human rights and justice to be at heart of fight against terrorism". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  21. ^ "'Warning signs are flashing' in crisis-torn Central African Republic, warns senior UN official". UN News. 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  22. ^ "OHCHR | Afghanistan: Senior UN rights official urges more action to end attacks on civilians". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  23. ^ "OHCHR | Senior UN human rights official urges increased protection of human rights defenders after his visit to Honduras". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  24. ^ "OHCHR | Colombia: UN Assistant Secretary-General for human rights urges effective protection of rights defenders amid continued attacks". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  25. ^ "Japan's businesses should take lead on LGBT rights: U.N. official". The Japan Times Online. 2018-06-15. ISSN 0447-5763. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  26. ^ "HCDH | Statement by Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, at the 18th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  27. ^ "No. 63135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 2020. p. B4.
  28. ^ Gilmour, A. (2016). 'The Role of the Secretary-General', Chapter 1 in Makdisi, K & Prashad, V (eds.) Land of Blue Helmets: The United Nations and the Arab World. Berkeley: University of California Press
  29. ^ Gilmour, Andrew (9 December 2019). "Human Rights are Suffering an Onslaught of Attacks". Financial Times.
  30. ^ Gilmour, Andrew (2019-12-09). "Opinion | The Children of ISIS Don't Belong in Cages, Either". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  31. ^ Gilmour, Andrew (2018-05-18). "Imprisoned, threatened and silenced: human rights workers across Asia are in danger | Andrew Gilmour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  32. ^ Gilmour, Andrew (2 February 2020). "Preventing Climate Change is a Human Rights Issue". Bloomberg.
  33. ^ Gilmour, Andrew (2013-09-09). "Dag Hammarskjold: Statesman of the Century". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  34. ^ Gilmour, Andrew (15 August 2017). "Liberia's Leaders Must Do More to Advance Human Rights". GNN Liberia.
  35. ^ Gilmour, Andrew. "Por qué debemos defender a los defensores". El Heraldo.
  36. ^ Gilmour, A. (2014). The Future of Human Rights: A View from the United Nations. Ethics & International Affairs, 28(2), 239-250. doi:10.1017/S0892679414000240
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