INTERNATIONAL: Ireland's First Female President Speaks at Monmouth University Convention

Seizing on a rare opportunity, Toms River resident Brandon Karkovice was the first to ask Ireland's first female President Mary Robinson a question Tuesday night.

Robinson, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, was the featured keynote speaker at the 10th annual Monmouth University Institute for Global Understanding Convention.

A junior at the college, majoring in political science with a concentration in international relations, Karkovice, 21, wanted to know what could be done to include women in positions of power and influence here and across the globe.

Robinson, a longtime advocate for women and those without a voice, answered by discussing how women from across the globe in various positions of power came together during last year's Cancun Summit on Climate Change — a topic she sees as a human rights issue.

"Women should be at the table in peace discussions," Robinson said. "We need women mediators; women who are trying to hold their communities together."

Ocean Township's Terence Bodak, 20, was next, asking about globalization obstacles.

"There is a systemic trade imbalance on subsidies (rice, sugar) that prevents poor countries from benefiting from their commodities," Robinson answered.

An honorary president of Oxfam International, a non-governmental group with members from three continents working to fight poverty and injustice worldwide, Robinson's "Human Rights: Hard Times and Our Common Future," gave the audience of close to 600 people an opportunity to hear firsthand tellings of humans rights injustices Robinson's encountered.

"The world is not in agreement on the definition of human rights," Robinson said. "Where it may be more politically based here (she cited the Guantanamo Bay issue as an example), in other parts of the world it's more concentrated on the right to food, safe water, shelter and any kind of dignity and livelihood."

She spoke of her travels to Liberia, South Africa, Tunisia, Eastern Chad, and Zimbabwe and of the trials and uproar the world is witnessing in Libya, Bahrain, Tunisia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The (universal) language spoken is the language for rights," Robinson said. "I find it hopeful because this is not just Western rights, this is a global agenda."

Robinson, who received the 2009 United States Presidential medal of freedom, said she had the honor of presenting the day's Global Visionary Award recipient Sister M. Cyril Mooney of Loreto's Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with an honorary degree from Dublin's Trinity College last December.

Mooney, a Irish native, has lived in India since 1956.

"We are proud to honor Sister Cyril . . . for her outstanding contribution to education for girls, and in appreciation for offering Monmouth University students the opportunity to be involved in such a transformative life experience," said Dr. Rekha Datta, director of Monmouth University Institute for Global Understanding.

Robinson said she and Mooney share the belief that every human being should be educated on their responsibility to service and sense of community.

"Being here and seeing the spirit and the teamwork and sense of community is very special," Robinson said of her visit to the West Long Branch campus.