Inter-University Center invites you to a public lecture "The UN at 80: Multilateralism and the Fight For Human Rights", to be held by the UN Under-Secretary General for Global Communications, Ms. Melissa Fleming, on 1 September 2025, at 6:30 PM at Conference hall "Ivan Supek"and through Zoom.
Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary General leads the Department of Global Communications, which informs global audiences about the state of the world and engages them to build support for the work and goals of the United Nations. She is known for her longstanding work in the field of communications and advocating for the rights of refugees.
Ms. Fleming is a TED speaker, the author of the book, A Hope More Powerful than the Sea, and the host of the award-winning UN podcast, Awake at Night. She has published widely on strategic communications and is a frequent public speaker at universities and conferences.
As the UN celebrates its 80th anniversary, Ms. Fleming will address standard and current challenges facing the UN and the world. This lecture offers a rare opportunity to gain firsthand insights from one of the UN’s most influential voices on the transformative power of storytelling, the urgency of global solidarity, and the evolving landscape of human rights advocacy.
Abstract: Eight decades ago, world leaders came together to forge a better future. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, laid out, for the first time, the rights inherited by every human being at birth. Since then, human rights have made huge leaps forward, not least in the form of a comprehensive body of human rights law. Yet at a time of widespread warnings over backsliding and reversal of human rights, what are the implications for the rule of law, global aspirations and common values? As United Nations global communications chief, Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming communicates about the state of our troubled world and advocates for human-rights based solutions to global problems. In this session, she explores the UN’s efforts to advance and defend human rights and uphold the promise of freedom, equality and justice for all.
