Racial Discrimination and the United Nations System

10 October 2000

1. Introduction

This short paper focuses on how contemporary problems of racial discrimination around the world are dealt with by the International Community and how the United Nations, in particular, can make effective contributions to the elimination of racial discrimination. It concentrates on new approaches, and new opportunities offered by the “World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance” and underlines practical responses particularly those of civil society and non-governmental organisations, in partnership with the UN, to combat racism in every day life. It draws upon the practical experience of Minority Rights Group International and our partners throughout the world, who are either from minority groups or from broader based human rights organisations.

It is clear that these responses will need to be part of a larger strategy and a global action plan as the magnitude of this challenge to combat racism worldwide is immense. Consequently this paper only touches on some of the new approaches that are possible and may stimulate further thinking. The underlining philosophy is a rights base approach where by the primary victims of racism can become empowered to be equal in dignity and rights.

The International Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (I.C.E.R.D) states in Article 1.1:

In this Convention, the term “racial discrimination” shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

This is used as the working definition of racism for this paper. This broad definition of racism has been accepted by the 156 states that have ratified this convention (of which 30 states have declared that they recognise the competence of the Committee to receive communications from individuals or groups of individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of the Convention). It provides a strong moral basis for promoting the Convention, though in many parts of the world, it does not attract the political and legal authority its ratification merits. The paper will return to this issue later.

Article 2.2 of I.C.E.R.D stipulates:

State Parties shall, when the circumstances warrant, take, in the social, economic, cultural and other fields, special and concrete measures to ensure the adequate development and protection of certain racial groups or individuals belonging to them, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. These measures shall in no case entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate rights for different racial groups after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.

This provides not only a basis to act against direct and indirect discrimination, but to take targeted positive measures, including programmes of action, to respond to the legacy of racial discrimination. This can be particularly important in the economic, social and cultural arenas where issues of education, land use, employment, preventative healthcare and allocation of resources have led to the systematic and institutionalised marginalization of individuals and communities.

Non-discrimination, including racial discrimination is a central tenet of International Human Rights Law as may been seen from the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which begins in Article 1 with beautiful language:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.

Today we would say “in a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood”. Although this paper does not focus on gender issues specifically it is important to look at the differential impact of racial discrimination upon various sectors in a community including men and women.

This paper outlines the magnitude of the challenge facing the United Nations and briefly explores the way in which the United Nations, in particular its human rights machinery could become more supportive of local initiatives to combat racism.

2. The Challenge

2.1 Vulnerable Groups

In the World Directory on Minorities (MRG, 1997) it was shown that ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities are often the poorest of the poor, suffer discrimination in a multiplicity of ways and are frequently the victim of human rights abuses. It showed that at least 10%, and perhaps as many as 20% of the world’s population, may be identified as belonging to minority communities. The Directory has almost 1000 entries, although it is by no means comprehensive, ranging from Aboriginal People of Australia to Afro Americans in Brazil, from Dalits in India to Roma/Gypsies in Europe and from Batwa of Central Africa to Albanians in Macedonia. The situation of each community is unique, and within each community there is considerable diversity, but often there is a common theme of discrimination in civil and political rights and exclusion from the full enjoyment of their language or education, employment, as well as land, natural resources and participatory development.

This racism is often systematic and institutionalised in government approaches and in public attitudes, except for those who live close to these communities. They are often marginalized and denied information or access to those in power. They are frequently excluded from national policies and programmes of development as well as from programmes of cooperation and assistance between states. A plethora of programmes have been promoted in the name of development that have damaged vulnerable communities. However these have not been systematically analysed, work is at last beginning on this and these issues are becoming better known.

What are better known internationally are the violent conflicts. The large majority of these conflicts today are conflicts within states with groups polarised across ethnic and religious divides, rather than across borders. Those who are caught up in these conflicts often become displaced internally or seek asylum outside and, despite the tragedy that they have experienced, they can be subject to hostile attitudes and discrimination once again.

2.2 State Sovereignty and State Secrets

The independence of individual states within the United Nations was an essential ingredient in the formation of the United Nations and in the language of the Charter. Diplomats to the UN from member states represent the interest of their country and many will act with great vigour to restrict actions they believe to be an infringement of their sovereignty. The UN Charter, under Chapter VII provisions, did allow the Security Council to taken action when international peace and security is threatened. And still to date article 8(4) of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities agreed by the General Assembly in December 1992 stipulates:

4. Nothing in the present Declaration may be construed as permitting any activity contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, including sovereign equality, territorial integrity and political independence of States.

Nevertheless a shift of emphasis was recognised in the Vienna Declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights (1993) where human rights were accepted as a legitimate concern of the international community. This understanding is still contested in a significant number of countries that behave as though international human rights conventions are state secrets that must be kept closely guarded in Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Too many states resist visits by UN Special Rapporteurs, fail to report to Treaty monitoring bodies or ignore the implementation of the findings. The UN itself has no human rights enforcement mechanisms and must rely largely on embarrassment and peer group political pressure of other member states. While recognising the limitations of their mandate and their resources, a key challenge is to encourage the UN monitoring mechanisms to work with others locally to promote the effective implementation of international human rights law on racism.

Kofi Annan helped strengthen the position of human rights in the UN when he addressed the UN Commission on Human Rights in April 1999 and stated:

“And let me therefore be very clear: even though we are an organization of Member States, the rights and ideals the United Nations exists to protect are those of peoples. As long as I am Secretary General, the United Nations as an institution will always place human beings at the centre of everything we do. No government has the right to hide behind national sovereignty in order to violate the human rights or fundamental freedoms of its peoples. Whether a person belongs to the minority or the majority, that person’s human rights and fundamental freedoms are sacred”.

2.3 Bridging the UN Divide

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is at the Palais Wilson in Geneva and consequently much of the centralised human rights work of the UN is based in Geneva, yet the main sources of power in the UN are within the Security Council, the Secretary General’s Office and the UN funding agencies, such as UNDP, based in New York.

One important challenge is to bridge that “communication divide” while a second challenge is to ensure that issues of racism are mainstreamed into the development discourse and a third to implement long-term measures to combat racism as a contribution to the prevention of violent conflicts.

The door is partially open, as at the end of 1998 the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan spoke about the many conflicts and instabilities in Africa.

“Many of these conflicts are rooted in a culture of intolerance, spread by self interested leaders who use ethnic, religious or social diversities as pretexts. Yet we know that Africa’s history is replete with examples of co-existence and cooperation across borders and creeds, defying differences and inspiring unity”.

The Secretary General continued.

“What we also know, however, is that some leaders have exploited those differences and sown hatreds, where they could not provide peace or produce prosperity.

The consequences are apparent for all to see. In the wake of ethnic hatred, unspeakable crimes have been committed in Africa in recent years – above all the genocide in Rwanda.

In too many parts of the continent, ethnic divisions continue to obstruct economic progress and good governance, making every peace fragile and every division explosive”.

The tragedy is that once a violent conflict has developed it is immensely difficult to strengthen minority rights to redress past omissions. The situation in Northern Ireland is still at a crossroads despite the best endeavours of the United Kingdom and Irish Governments. Another state at a crossroads is Sri Lanka. The Minority Rights Group’s International Chairman, Dr Neelan Tiruchelvam, was murdered in July 1999 in Sri Lanka because he proposed legislation in parliament to promote minority rights and peaceful co-existence.

The Secretary General’s words could be an opportunity for dialogue at the World Conference against Racism and could promote a new dialogue be promoted at an early stage of interethnic tensions, before these are exploited and violence erupts.

3. United Nations Human Rights Machinery

3.1 International Human Rights Treaties

I.C.E.R.D, like several of the human rights treaties, require state parties to submit reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies on how they have fulfilled their Treaty obligations. In the case of ICERD state parties are required to report to CERD every two years, however due to pressures of work on CERD major reports are only expected every 4 years. Many states take this obligation seriously and liaise with NGOs within their country, particularly those from minority communities. The UK and Finland are examples of this. Others are less conscientious and in three cases states have failed on more than 25 occasions to respond to reminders from C.E.R.D.

State reports should be submitted on a periodic basis and are examined by the respective treaty bodies in open sessions. Representatives of the reporting state are generally present to make additional comments and answer questions from committee members. NGOs and the public may attend these meetings and NGOS are allowed to address some committees. C.E.R.D held a two day session this year (2000) to familiarise themselves with Roma issues, and to hear from Roma organisations and concluded this initial session with a general recommendation.

The Committee members take account of information from many sources including NGO reports. These sessions are a new and important way of involving and encouraging local NGOs to link and national and international dialogue.

Treaties that contain minority-specific standards include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention of the Rights of the Child and most importantly for combating racism, is I.C.E.R.D. Minorities may also want to raise their concerns in other treaty bodies, such as the CEDAW and CAT.

The treaty bodies undertake an important role in terms of advising states on how to improve compliance with the international standards to which they have subscribed. The concluding observations are not legally binding and cannot be enforced, but states may accept the advice as they stand to gain credibility with the international community by engaging in dialogue with the committees, by showing good faith and by acknowledging problem areas

The potential desire of some diplomats to gain credibility with the international community is not a satisfactory way to ensure a convention is implemented properly. The Convention needs including in constitutional and domestic law, relevant administrative degrees, and requires the training of court and law enforcement officials. This will need the support of diplomats, politicians, ministers, senior civil servants, judges, lawyers and the police, as well as a stable structure that ensures the rule of law. Perhaps most important of all is the good will of the officials, politicians and the public generally, with a vibrant civil society supporting human rights and the principles enshrined in C.E.R.D.

The way in which a Treaty Monitoring body can promote local initiatives was seen recently in Slovakia when the Advisory Committee of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities were invited. A wide public dialogue took place and the Deputy Prime Minister took advantage of the visit to propose certain important new ways to protect and promote minority rights.

Treaty monitoring bodies should be encouraged to reinforce the position of independent national “anti discrimination” institutions, such as Ombudsmen and National Human rights Institutions that encourage an ethnically neutral state and domestic ownership of international human rights norms.

3.2 The Commission on Human Rights

The Commission on Human Rights is the highest specialist forum for human rights within the United Nations. Although it consists of 53 member states elected by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the General Assembly and represented by diplomats, it offers an opportunity for NGOS in consultative status with ECOSOC to be present and to make short speeches on human rights. One agenda item early in the meeting is devoted to racism and another part of the agenda to minority, indigenous and migration issues. Together they may occupy 15% of the time of the Commission. Resolutions may be passed on aspects of racism that may influence in a modest way attitudes and approaches of states towards the issue. Perhaps more significant for engaging and potentially empowering the victims of racism are the Sub Commission on Human Rights and more particularly the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the Working Group on Minorities.

The Working Group on Indigenous Populations has been in existence for over a decade and has succeeded in becoming the annual forum for debate among indigenous groups worldwide and, through generous support for a UN voluntary fund, enable indigenous community representatives to participate. Over 700 indigenous representatives attended the one-week meeting in 1999. This meeting has helped formulate a draft text for a UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, hears about particular complaints and issues and provides an excellent venue for strengthening contacts and networks. This forum is the nearest the UN has to an Indigenous Peoples Assembly and can act as a modest counter balance to the concept of a mono-ethnic, homogenous nation state. However the forum need more publicity and governmental attention, until the new Indigenous Peoples Forum is established . Furthermore there are opportunities for taking the issues back home and opening a new discussion locally. This dialogue linking local and international is an important opportunity for the World Conference against Racism.

The Sub Commission also has a Working Group on Minorities that was established as a permanent forum in 1998. Although much smaller than its indigenous counterpart with perhaps 100 minority participants it has promoted the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. MRG organises a training programme before and during the Working Group to help strengthen minority participation and their knowledge of how to engage the UN on their issues. This needs substantial additional funding. Unlike its Indigenous counterpart, at present this lacks voluntary funding for attendance of minorities and consequently the numbers of minorities attending has been too limited , but its importance is growing.

The trainee advocates then convene workshops when they return home to share their experience and often have sufficient confidence and experience to open new avenues of dialogue with government. These can play an important role in the wider recognition of the existence of racism and opportunities to agree practical responses. The World Conference against Racism and the networks emerging, offer an opportunity to promote this forum and help strengthen the processes of dialogue.

3.3 United Nations Thematic Mechanisms

The United Nations (UN) thematic mechanisms consist of a number of special rapporteurs, representatives, independent experts or working groups appointed usually by the UN Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) to look at specific types of human rights violations wherever in the world they occur. They are referred to as ‘thematic’ to distinguish them from the country mechanisms, also appointed by the Commission, which look at the human rights situation in specific countries.

The thematic mechanisms have built up a reputation for being one of the UN’s most effective tools in the promotion and protection of human rights. They can receive information about human rights violations from a variety of sources, both governmental and non-governmental. Those that take up individual cases can raise allegations with the government concerned and receive its reply, without revealing the source of the allegations. Most visit countries to examine at first hand the human rights situation, although only at the invitation of the government concerned, and make recommendations that should lead to an improvement in the situation. All the mechanisms compile detailed and candid reports to the Commission which not only describe human rights situations both generally and in individual countries but include valuable developments of the legal framework relevant to their mandate and make recommendations to both governments and the Commission. Their work is well described in a recent publication by Amnesty International and the Law Society (Amnesty International/Law Society, July 2000).

The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (Mr Maurice Glèlè-Ahanharzzo, Benin) is an important functionary. However the special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict; the Special Rapporteur on religious freedom and belief and the independent expert on human rights and extreme poverty would also have a cross cutting concerns that may be linked to racial discrimination.

The much wider knowledge and use of these thematic mechanisms could help combat racism.

3.4 Development Initiatives

Earlier in this paper the importance of the full enjoyment of Economic, Social and Cultural rights for minority and indigenous communities was recognised. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well as CERD may have a role in influencing domestic policy, but the issues involve many non-state actors including transnational companies, and multinational investors. The complexity and importance of this has been recognised in the “UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities” and in MRG publication “Minorities, Minority Rights and Development”. It has also been emphasised in the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

The full and effective participation of minorities in economic, social and cultural life implies a coherent state policy, clear objectives and strategies by a range of ministries, supported by clear goals to be used in the determination of budgets and fiscal policy as well as willing competent local administrators. It may imply special measures to address historic injustices, which are often controversial when resources are tight and these are competitive needs.

Under Article IX of the UN Declaration on the rights of…minorities the specialised agencies and other organisations of the United Nations system shall contribute to the full realisation of the rights and principles set forth in the Declaration , within their respective field of competence. These agencies and organisations should b e invited to map out what they have done and present a full report to the WCR.

The Conference could test out how far this is in fact being implemented . Additionally it could encourage C.E.R.D to identify where special measures are needed, encourage the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and on minorities to enable indigenous and minority groups to discuss their experiences, highlights good practice and expose failures.

These fora could examine and debate the policies and practices of UN development agencies.

A constructive debate is needed on bilateral and multilateral aid as well as on lending policies and here the UN, its working groups and treaty monitoring bodies could encourage a new dialogue within UN Development Institutions.

Some five years ago the World Bank and the Inter American Bank recognised that it needed special measures and special projects for indigenous people that often by passed the central government. The dialogue on how to extend this approach to minority communities has only just begun with a lead being taken by the Inter American Bank. It comes at a time where impoverished Afro Americans in Central and South America are becoming more organised and outspoken and are likely to be highly visible at the World Conference against Racism.

Another way that the UN could make more effective contributions to the elimination of racial discrimination is through efforts to mainstream human rights and development into the programmes of UN agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF and FAO. Well planned programmes could help diversify the allocation of resource, encourage decentralisation and the great participation of minorities and indigenous communities in development programmes. Today UNICEF is largely guided today by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and here the rights of the minority child are protected under article 3, 29 and 30. Already the International Save the Children Alliance is taking up this challenge in their lobbying, both for the World Conference against Racism and the 10th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Administrator of UNDP has welcomed working together with MRG to seek ways of taking forward the excellent analysis in the 2000 UNDP Human Development report. This may be through pilot projects and in the general initiative to mainstream human rights in the coordination work of their 134 local offices. Already a dialogue has begun with indigenous organisations and other civil society bodies. A dialogue is needed with minorities.

MRG has a significant programme on Minority Rights and Development involving governmental and NGO development agencies. This initiative to mainstream minorities and minority rights in development will be promoted through the dialogue on the World Conference against Racism and could become an effective tool to combat racism.

3.5 Public Opinion

Today the majority of states of the United Nations would claim to have democratically elected governments and the proud acclaim of the United Nations Charter “We the peoples of the United Nations” is closer to being realised than ever before. There remains an immense gap between the debates and understanding at the UN General Assembly or even the Commission on Human Rights and the issues and knowledge locally. It is evident to those with practical experience of human rights that human rights need to be owned and understood locally to be enjoyed by all. It may imply sufficient democratic space and a vibrant civil society that can promote a full understanding of rights and can draw different communities together around common concerns and practical initiatives.

An independent and diverse media is important and so too is publicity of the approach of the United Nations and the solidarity it can thereby offer from outside. The opportunity to establish networks to share ideas and experiences and to open new avenues of dialogue with government can also be offered by the UN and events linked to the World Conference against Racism.

The development of the High Commissioner for Human Rights website is important and will be of growing importance as more and more human rights organisations have access to the internet. It cannot easily be censored and transforms information flows on human rights. It will be important to ensure that minority and indigenous communities engaged in dialogue with their governments have the capacity to use this valuable resource and have access to the internet. To influence public opinion it is also important to influence radio and television broadcasting and here the OHCHR could be more creative and draw on the experience of UNHCR and the network offered by UNDP.

However what is more important than any technically efficient centralised plan is to listen to civil society locally, committed people in both majority and minority communities, on how best to devise and implement an effective local strategy with realistic targets to combat discrimination on colour, nationality, ethnicity or descent. The World Conference against Racism offers an opportunity to begin this long-term initiative.

4. The World Conference against Racism

The third World Conference against Racism will be held in South Africa from 31 August to 7 September 2001. It is the last in the series of UN World Conferences and will provide an opportunity for all the member states of the UN to come together to review progress internationally, prepare a declaration and agree a programme of action. There will be a role for NGOs and Observers to inform and influence the debate and outcome, though by the time the conference begins much will have already been decided. Consequently it is important to look at this as a process before, during and after the conference. The high profile that a World Conference can attract and the way it concentrates the mind of UN agencies and governments in considering their position offer excellent opportunities for the direct victims of racism, to be heard locally and internationally.

The spotlight should be on them and there will be opportunities to share their experiences on a national, regional and global stage to lobby at all levels, to create new contacts, to share experiences and ideas among themselves, to listen and learn and to create empowering and enduring networks.

There are opportunities to recognise, prioritise issues and agree an action plan for the UN . However there is a major danger that a real dialogue may be muted by those States who want to criticise without being self critical, denying racism- discrimination on grounds of colour, descent, nationality or ethnicity in their own country . Additionally certain limited themes may dominate the agenda and create a hostile atmosphere. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, helped by some states and some NGOs will need to find constructive ways forward whatever the political controversies. However it is likely that NGO meetings will be dominated by wealthy European and North American minority and indigenous groups.

There will be Expert Seminars as well as Regional Preparatory Conferences in 2000 and 2001 in all four continents. There will be the second World Conference Preparatory Committee Meeting in Geneva at the end of May, preceded by an inter-sessional Work Group meeting in Geneva in January and 4 UN NGO meetings organised per continent. There will also be ad hoc satellite meetings, such as that MRG and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights held in Palais Wilson in August on strengthening the implementation of I.C.E.R.D.

There will be many opportunities for NGOs, including minority and indigenous groups to participate in these meetings directly or in NGO fora at the time of the regional conferences or the World Conference itself.

These will require good flows of information with the system, networks, coordination between networks and last but no means least resources for travel, accommodation, coordination and effective participation. Organisations and networks will need to determine their own strategies and goals.

Minority Rights Group has recently completed its own 4 year Strategic Review consulting widely with its partners worldwide and will be using this World Conference as part of a long-term process to strengthen the advocacy capacity of minority and indigenous groups, particularly their ability to combine national and international initiatives to mainstream minority rights and development and to strengthening the implementation of I.C.E.R.D.

MRG has already attracted significant funding from 3 donors for this work, has strong links with other networks and is cooperating closely with the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. MRG would welcome working with other human rights and development agencies whose local partners may wish to participate effectively in the World Conference.

5. Conclusion

This short paper has inevitably only touched upon the contemporary problems of racial discrimination. There is a library of literature on the issues involving ethnic discrimination, migrants, refugees, minorities and indigenous communities. MRG alone has published over 300 titles on this subject and a World Directory of Minorities that has 846 pages and cannot be described as comprehensive. The issues are complex and multifaceted implying an interdisciplinary approach to understand issues that would include a range of scholars from international lawyers to anthropologists from political scientists to development economists. In each area there are different approaches based on different axioms while the circumstances in each and every country differs and the circumstances of each community that is subject to racial discrimination differs.

Even using the word racism is problematic as it implies totally unacceptable international behaviour, such as apartheid, and this can lead to a denial of any form of direct or indirect, known or unknown, discrimination.

Furthermore there are many thousands of minority and indigenous groups, migrants, refugees and displaced people in almost every country of the world and their numbers are large. Added to this the UN itself is a very large, diverse body composed of many agencies and organs with a global presence. A clear overachieving strategy – indeed sets of strategies – are needed to combat the root causes of racism and historical legacies. Inspired by the Secretary General the World Conference against Racism and the new network of activists, this process could begin.

Alternatively the World Conference offers an attractive platform for those who want to unburden their anger of past or present grievances. This will happen and is understandable but may make positive initiatives in the future difficult as no individual or state wishes to be labelled as ‘racist’. There will also be a number of states who will wish to use this opportunity to criticise others. The complex and controversial issue of compensation that can be interpreted in many ways has already been raised and is likely to be a major focus. Constructive criticism is helpful particularly if states deny any form of institutional racism, however a reflective self-critical approach and encouraging new forms of dialogue and action locally, that states such as South Africa are already offering is much a more unifying and sustainable approach.

This paper has shown that despite this background noise and potential conflict at the World Conference against Racism and despite the complexity of the issues, it is possible to find new practical approaches and real opportunities for the UN to make more effective and sustained contributions to the elimination of racial discrimination.

Select Bibliography

World Directory of Minorities, MRG 1996.

International Action against Racial Discrimination, Michael Banton, Clarendon Press, 1996.

Minority Rights: A Guide to UN Procedures and Institutions, Gudmundur Alfredsson, Erika Ferrer, MRG 1998.

EU China dialogue - Perspectives on human rights –with special reference to women. University of Lapland Press 2000

I.C.E.R.D, Manual for NGOs, MRG 2000.

People Nation and State, Edward Mortimer, IB Tauris 1999.

The United Nations Thematic Mechanisms, Amnesty International and Law Society, July 2000.

UNDP Human Development Report 2000, UNDP 2000.

Useful Websites

UN Secretary General
http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/index.html

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
http://www.unhchr.ch

US International Lawyers Group
http://www.hrlawgroup.org

Appendix

The World Conference Against Racism

In 1997, the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene a UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held from 31 August to 7 September 2001 in South Africa. This will be the third World Conference on this topic: the previous two World Conferences on Racism were held in 1978 and 1983 in Geneva.

Objectives

The objectives of the World Conference, as stated in General Assembly resolution 52/111 of 1997, are as follows:

(1) To review progress made in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, particularly since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to reappraise the obstacles to further progress in the field and ways to overcome them.

(2) To consider ways and means to better ensure the application of existing standards and the implementation of the existing instruments to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(3) To increase the level of awareness about the scourges of racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(4) To formulate concrete recommendations on ways to increase the effectiveness of activities and mechanisms of the United Nations through programmes aimed at combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(5) To review the political, historical, economic, social, cultural and other factors leading to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(6) To formulate concrete recommendations to further action-oriented national, regional and international measures to combat all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(7) To draw up concrete recommendations for ensuring that the United Nations has the financial and other necessary resources for its actions to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

These objectives will be elaborated in the final conference documents, which will consist of a “declaration” and a “programme of action” resulting from government negotiations at the conference and in preparatory meetings leading up to the conference.

At the first meeting of the World Conference Preparatory Committee (or “Prep Com”), which was held in Geneva from 1-5 May 2000, the main themes for the World Conference agenda were adopted. They are as follows:

(1) Sources, causes, forms and contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(2) Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

(3) Measures of prevention, education and protection aimed at the eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, at the national, regional and international levels.

(4) Provision of effective remedies, recourses, redress, [compensatory] and other measures, at the national, regional and international levels.

(5) Strategies to achieve full and effective equality, including international cooperation and enhancement of the UN and other international mechanisms in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and follow-up.

The term “compensatory” in Theme 4 is in square brackets [ ] because the governments, after extensive debate, could not reach consensus on its inclusion. The slogan adopted by the Prep Com for the World Conference Against Racism is: “United to Combat Racism: Equality, Justice, Dignity”.

NGOs and other groups will be working to ensure that specific issues are placed on the agenda of the World Conference, including the following: discrimination on the basis of skin color or ethnicity, discrimination against immigrants and migrant workers, discrimination against indigenous peoples, multiple bases of identity that compound racial discrimination (such as gender or sexual orientation), bias in the criminal justice system, hate speech, affirmative action, reparations, and economic rights, among others.

TIMELINE FOR THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM (as of September 2000)

5-7 July 2000, Warsaw, Poland, Regional Expert Seminar for Europe on the theme: “Protection of Minorities and Other Vulnerable Groups and Strengthening Human Rights Capacity at the National Level”

5-7 September 2000, Bangkok, Thailand, Regional Expert Seminar for Asia and the Pacific on the theme: “Migrant Workers and Trafficking of Persons, with particular reference to Women and Children”

4-6 October 2000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Regional Expert Seminar for Africa on the theme: “Preventing Ethnic and Racial Conflict”

11-13 October 2000, Strasbourg, France, European Conference Against Racism (Preparatory Conference)

19-20 October 2000, Geneva, Switzerland, Informal Consultations

25-27 October 2000, Santiago, Chile, Regional Expert Seminar for Latin America and the Caribbean on the theme: “Economic, Social and Legal Measures to Combat Racial Discrimination, with particular reference to Vulnerable Groups”

22-24 January 2001, Dakar, Senegal, Regional Preparatory Conference for Africa

4-7 December 2000, Santiago, Chile , Regional Preparatory Conference for the Americas

15-19 January 2001, Geneva, Switzerland, Inter-sessional Working Group Meeting

19-21 February 2001, Teheran, Iran, Regional Preparatory Conference for Asia

28 May – 8 June 2001, Geneva, Switzerland, World Conference Preparatory Committee Meeting (Second Prep Com)

29 August – 2 September 2001, South Africa, NGO Forum

31 August – 7 September 2001, South Africa, World Conference Against Racism