Founded at Mansfield College
The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights is a research institute that’s part of the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford, housed at Mansfield. The Institute seeks to foster world class research in human rights law, to enrich the experience of students who are interested in human rights, and to improve public understanding of human rights.
In keeping with our ambitions and ethos, we’re proud to have raised the funds for the Institute and to establish it on the Mansfield site. We’re also extremely grateful to the many generous benefactors who helped us to celebrate the founding of the Institute in so many ways, including bringing a sculpture of Eleanor Roosevelt to Oxford.
"Mansfield is home to the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, which was opened by Kofi Annan in 2018. The Institute is a perfect reflection of the spirit of the College: plural, tolerant, broadminded, and respecting the dignity and worth of everyone who crosses our threshold. Those are the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and they are the values of this College."
The Eleanor Roosevelt statue at Mansfield
In a quiet and reflective pose, the bronze recasting of the Eleanor Roosevelt statue in Manhattan’s Riverside Park was kindly approved by sculptor Penelope Jencks and the Roosevelt Family Foundation.
It was unveiled in 2018 by Hillary Clinton, an Honorary Fellow of Mansfield College, 70 years since the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – which Eleanor Roosevelt played a key role in drafting. Believing education and equal opportunities should be available to all, she used her role as First Lady of the United States of America to fight for civil rights, the rights of women, and racial equality.
Meet Institute Director, Kate O’Regan
A Professor of Human Rights Law and Mansfield College Fellow, Kate O’Regan is the inaugural Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, and a former judge of the South African Constitutional Court (1994 – 2009) and the Supreme Court of Namibia (from 2010 – 2016).
Explore research at the Institute
Their research into human rights includes areas such as business, constitutional studies, discrimination, poverty, employment, legal theory, religion, technology and how to implement human rights.
