fernando henrique cardoso lecture on University I-Tunes

The former President of Brazil spoke about Human Rights at St Antony’s College in November 2008. The lecture is part of the Annual Sérgio Vieira de Mello lectures.

Video link: http://media.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/sant/human_rights/cardoso-medium-video.mp4  [You will require software capable of viewing mp4 files, such as iTunes].

Audio link: http://media.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/sant/human_rights/cardoso-medium-audio.mp3

Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC)  accepted the British Council’s invitation to present a lecture at St Antony’s College, Oxford University, on 10 November. The lecture: “Reframing Human Rights in the Global Era: a tribute to Sérgio Vieira de Mello” is part of a project developed by the British Council, “Raising Human Rights Awareness”, which, through its Annual Sérgio Vieira de Mello lectures, aims to exchange experiences between Brazil and the UK and increase awareness of Human Rights.

Believing that greater awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will lead to greater exercise of its principles, the British Government and NGOs around the world have, for many years, made Human Rights education a priority. The annual lectures are a homage from the British Council to Sérgio Vieira de Mello, for his intense dedication to humanitarian issues and his exceptional performance in the defence of the Human Rights and principles, until the premature ending of his life in August 2003, when he was the victim of a terrorist attack while he worked in Iraq as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The official launch of the project took place in September 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, with the participation of members of the Vieira de Mello family and lectures by Alessandro Molon, State representative and president of the Human Rights Commission at Alerj – Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro; Leslie Bethell, former director of the former Brazilian Studies Centre at Oxford University; Oscar Vilhena, juridical director of Conectas Human Rights and coordinator of the Law post-graduate School at Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo and Sital Dhillon, former director of governance, British Council, Latin America.

Fernando Henrique was President of the United Nations Panel of Eminent Personalities for the civil society and on the revitalization of UNCTAD . He is a former Professor Emeritus at the University of >São Paulo. Fernando Henrique was also visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley, at Cambridge and Paris-Nanterre (École des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales). He has been awarded a number of honorary doctorates from institutions such as the LSE, Oxford and Cambridge.

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. They build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide.   They focus on five main areas:  Education, English Language, Science, Arts, Governance / Human Rights.  They are present in 223 cities and 109 countries, creating partnerships with local governments in a multitude of areas, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.  They are a non-political and non-profit organisation which operates at arm's length from government, always promoting equal opportunities and diversity. In Brazil their offices are located in Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and São Paulo. For more information, visit their website at www.britishcouncil.org.br