Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen will today (Monday) receive an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Ulster.
 
The award celebrates her work as leader of over 250,000 members of the group in the UK and helps mark the fiftieth anniversary of Amnesty International, the world's largest human rights movement
 
Receiving the doctorate at a ceremony at the Millennium Forum, L/Derry, she said:
 
"The honour which the University bestows upon me today, is really an honour for all our members, the people who inspire me every day, and who this year celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our movement for human rights."
 
She also paid tribute to the university:
“I want to pay particular tribute to the University of Ulster for its important role, not just in this community but throughout the world, where it is viewed as a leader in so many fields.
 
"To pick just two examples, through INCORE, the University’s International Conflict Research Institute, and the University’s Transitional Justice Institute, UU has made and continues to make a major contribution to building a more peaceful and just world.
 
"Staff and students at this university have taken the bitter experiences which have buffeted the people of Northern Ireland over recent decades and turned them into opportunities for learning how to make the world a better place for all."
 
The Amnesty leader also took time to compliment the University's Chancellor, actor James Nesbitt, who presided over the ceremony:
 
"Those students could have no better inspiration than this University’s Chancellor, Doctor James Nesbitt. Whether on-screen, acting in important dramas like Bloody Sunday or Five Minutes in Heaven, or in his role as patron of charities like WAVE, supporting victims of the Troubles or UNICEF, rehabilitating child soldiers in Sudan, your Chancellor is an example to us all."