GENEVA – A group of independent experts* of the largest fact-finding and monitoring mechanism of the United Nations human rights system today called upon UN Member States and all stakeholders to increase their efforts to address the challenge of racism and racial discrimination. On the occasion of the official launch of the International Decade for People of African Descent on 10 December, also the International Human Rights Day, the UN experts welcomed the takeoff of the International Decade as a significant political commitment in the fight against racial discrimination: “People of African descent of all ages often face institutional racism and multiple forms of discrimination and, as a result, their fundamental human rights and dignity are violated. Racial discrimination leads to marginalization and marginalization exacerbates the inability of individuals whose rights are more likely to be violated to effectively exercise their fundamental rights. States should take affirmative action measures to ensure that all individuals, without distinction of any kind, have the ability to exercise effectively their rights, including the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Economic, social and cultural rights and their implementation are fundamental to the elimination of... Continue reading →
