Racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance all occur on a daily basis, hindering progress for millions of people around the world. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the United Nations has made the struggle against racism a matter of priority. Much has been accomplished — but much is left to do.
The struggle against racism is at the heart of our work. UN Human Rights provides extensive support to all the mechanisms involved in the UN fight against racism, and works with them to make the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action a reality.
We coordinate the Programme of Activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent. In 2020 we were mandated to establish a dedicated team to work towards the effective implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 43/1 towards transformative change for racial justice and equality.
The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent was created as a result of the Durban Programme of Action. It is mandated to study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent living in the African Diaspora and make proposals to eliminate this discrimination.
The Special Rapporteur is an independent human rights expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The mandate was created to intensify international efforts to combat the varied forms of racism, racial discrimination, antisemitism, xenophobia and related intolerance, and the violations of basic human rights that they may result in.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties.
In 2007, in its resolution 6/21, the Human Rights Council established the Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards and mandated it to elaborate complementary standards to fill existing gaps in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
As its name implies, this working group is one of two mechanisms specifically dedicated to monitoring and guiding States on how to effectively implement the Declaration and Programme of Action.
This group is made of up of five independent Eminent Experts – one from each region – appointed by the UN Secretary-General to monitor the implementation of provisions in the Declaration and Programme of Action. It meets yearly to examine progress.
The Expert Mechanism was established by Human Rights Council resolution 47/21. It was established “in order to further transformative change for racial justice and equality in the context of law enforcement globally, especially where relating to the legacies of colonialism and the Transatlantic slave trade in enslaved Africans, to investigate Governments’ responses to peaceful anti-racism protests and all violations of international human rights law and to contribute to accountability and redress for victims”.
On 2 August 2021, the General Assembly adopted resolution 75/314, which formally operationalized the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, as "a consultative mechanism for people of African descent and other relevant stakeholders as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent, as well as an advisory body to the Human Rights Council, in line with the programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent and in close coordination with existing mechanisms".
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