3 September 2001
Annan Calls on Civil Society to Take Up Challenge
In his opening address to the NGO Forum at the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged civil society participants to "shine a spotlight into the dark corners where racism lurks, in every society".
"So often it is you, the civil society activists, who breathe life into these events," Annan said in Durban. "Sometimes it is also you who bring clarity, because you can discuss openly those awkward issues that governments have to avoid, or to blur, in the interests of reaching consensus."
Ahead of the opening of the conference on Friday, the Secretary-General stressed: "Many of you, I know, feel that your concerns are not properly represented in the conference itself. And you fear that they will not be reflected adequately - or perhaps at all - in the Declaration and Programme of Action. But your anger and frustration can be valuable in themselves, if you channel them into the creation of a worldwide antiracist movement, in which all your different struggles will converge."
Annan said that racism "aggravates every other form of oppression and discrimination. As long as it persists, the disadvantaged have little hope of escape". The greatest hope for change "lies in the rise of a new generation, free from the fears and prejudices of the old. So the biggest responsibility falls on parents and teachers, and on those who write textbooks, or plan school curricula. They must see to it that children are taught to take pride and pleasure in diversity, and not to recoil whenever they see someone whose habits or appearance are different from their own."
For more details: http://www.un.org/WCAR/statements/sg_ngo_address.htm
Clashes at NGO Forum
Tension between Palestinian and Israeli delegates attending the NGO Forum came to boiling point on Wednesday and only speedy police intervention averted a confrontation between them from turning violent, the local 'Mercury' newspaper reported.
The clash between the Palestinian activists and a group of Jewish students took place at Kingsmead stadium, the venue of the NGO Forum where a session on anti-Semitism was being held. The confrontation, which took place outside the venue, saw the two groups shouting accusations at each other. The session was temporarily abandoned and the police had to separate the two groups to prevent the clash from becoming violent, the newspaper said.
Khoisan demand recognition
Representatives of the southern African Khoisan people have lashed out at government leaders in the region, demanding to be recognised as indigenous people, news reports said.
Khoisan chiefs at the NGO Forum said the majority of their people were living in poverty, after being robbed of their ancestral land, which stretched across parts of Namibia, South Africa and Botswana. The Khoisan chiefs, who have managed to get to Durban with little financial backing, said they were disappointed their plight had not been raised at the NGO discussions so far. Historically, the Khoisan were the original inhabitants of southern Africa before the arrival of other black peoples.
Solomon David Isaacs, of the Nama First Indigenous People's Forum in Namibia stressed: "There is no such thing as resettlement. We are rejecting it as indigenous people. We don't want a resettlement plan, we want restitution of the ancestral lands, of the indigenous lands."
Business, labour dialogue
Business and trade union leaders are to meet on Friday to discuss the impact of racism and discrimination in the workplace and wider community. The dialogue is to be opened by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and Secretary-General of the WCAR, will also take part.
"The dialogue will highlight private-sector initiatives to promote equality and inclusion in and out of the workplace, and look at obstacles faced in fighting discrimination. Participants will also explore opportunities for new cross-sectoral partnerships post-Durban as part of their commitment to the Secretary-General's Global Compact," a UNHCHR statement said.
The high-level dialogue is the first of three events planned during the conference to address the role of the private sector in combating discrimination and fostering diversity. On 1 September, a workshop with representatives of companies, trade unions, civil society groups and governments will identify ways of working together to make real progress on these issues. On 4 September, a joint International Labour Organisation-Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights panel on "Implementing Equality and Diversity Policies: Private Sector Action" will allow people involved in the development and implementation of equality and diversity policies or projects in the private sector to interact.
For more details: http://www.unglobalcompact.org
Racial intolerance at the heart of many humanitarian emergencies
Racial discrimination and xenophobia are flash-points in most major humanitarian emergencies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday. Millions of people are driven from their homes by ethnic tensions and hatreds. Many beneficiaries of Red Cross and Red Crescent programmes also suffer from discrimination because of their status as victims of conflict, natural disasters, poverty or epidemics such as HIV/AIDS.
In a statement on the eve of the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, Malika Aït-Mohamed Parent, Head of the Principles and Values Department of the International Federation, said: "Discrimination of one kind or another is at the heart of the huge rise in the numbers of people requiring Red Cross Red Crescent assistance in recent years. We are still dealing with the consequences of racial and ethnic hatreds which have uprooted millions of people from their homes in the Great Lakes area of Africa and in the Balkan nations of Europe and in many other parts of the world."
Aït-Mohamed Parent said that racism was only the most obvious face of discrimination and that new forms of prejudice were on the rise in many parts of the world. She said that the Federation was increasingly alarmed at the role played by stigma in discriminating against people living with HIV/AIDS which has been evident since the epidemic first appeared some 20 years ago. This is now a major factor in the actual spread of the epidemic, particularly in parts of the world where people were refusing to be tested for the virus, as to be diagnosed positive in certain countries can lead to them becoming social outcasts or even being killed, the Federation statement said.
Human Rights Watch demands action
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Monday that the WCAR must lead to lead to concrete programmes to combat racial discrimination around the world.
"Victims of racism around the world expect more than empty talk - they expect action," said Reed Brody, Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch. "This meeting needs to offer something to the refugee in Europe who is beaten up simply because he is a 'foreigner', to the scavenger in India whose low caste prevents him from rising in life, to the Tibetan tortured by Chinese police, to the Palestinian under Israeli occupation, to the African-American child who is three times as likely to live in poverty as her white counterpart."
Human Rights Watch also said it hoped that the conference would include a call for reparations to address the continuing effects of slavery, segregation, and other extreme forms of racism; recognise discrimination against refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and internally displaced persons; and address the issue of racial discrimination in the conferring, denying and stripping of citizenship.
For a recent backgrounder and other racism related materials: http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/race/index.htm.
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