RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson, the former President of the Republic of Ireland, will present her book, Everybody Matters, My Life Giving Voice, at a noon luncheon reception on March 4, 2013, sponsored by the Authors Program of the Union League Club of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this event by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson has dedicated her life to the pursuit of a more just world and has become an influential voice for human rights around the world; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson reveals in her autobiography the vision and determination that has made her path to prominence so compelling; and
WHEREAS, Born in 1944 into a deeply Catholic family, the Honorable Mary Robinson was the only daughter among five children and considered becoming a nun; and
WHEREAS, As an activist lawyer, the Honorable Mary Robison won landmark cases advancing the causes of women and marginalized people against the prejudices of the day; and
WHEREAS, During her twenty years in the Irish Senate, the Honorable Mary Robinson promoted progressive legislation and in 1990 became Ireland's first woman president, redefining the role and putting Ireland firmly on the international stage; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson currently heads the Mary Robinson Foundation, which works on behalf of millions of poor around the world most affected by climate change; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson has been the honorary president of Oxfam International since 2002, and has chaired numerous bodies, including the GAVI Alliance, vaccinating children worldwide, and the Council of Women World Leaders; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Mary Robinson is a member of the American Philosophical Society and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 2009 U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Indira Gandhi and Sydney Peace Prizes; now, therefore
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this thirteenth day of February 2013, do hereby welcome the Honorable Mary Robinson to the City of Chicago and do hereby officially declare that March 4, 2013, shall be officially recognized as Mary Robinson Day throughout the City of Chicago; and
Alderman -14'" Ward \
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Honorable Mary Robinson.