[hr-education] International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

[***Please find below Kofi Annan's statement on the occasion of the
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Mod.***]

SECRETARY-GENERAL ENCOURAGES GOVERNMENTS, CIVIL SOCIETY TO
ASSESS ACTION TAKEN TO PROMOTE EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, TOLERANCE

15 March 2002

New Ways Needed to Address Racism, Intolerance,
He Says in Message on Day to Eliminate Discrimination

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 March:


On 21 March 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, police
opened fire and killed 69 people who were peacefully demonstrating against
apartheid's "pass laws." The United Nations General Assembly subsequently
declared that day ­- 21 March -- the International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination, and called on the international community not
only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat
racism and discrimination wherever they exist.

Although the principle of non-discrimination has been established as one of
the foundations of international law, the persistence of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance -- the violence and
invective visited on men and women not for what he or she has done, but
because of who he or she is -- demonstrates the need to look for new ways
to address this age-old problem. Last year, the World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance attempted
to do just that. The conference reached agreement on the need for tougher
national legislation, improved educational efforts, and more legal and
other assistance for the victims of racial discrimination. But the
conference also revealed deep disagreements on a number of contentious issues.

I encourage governments and civil society to use this International Day for
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to take stock of what has been
done at the national level since the world conference to promote equality,
diversity and tolerance. Ours is a world in which threats such as poverty,
pollution and political instability do not stop at national borders, nor
make any distinction between races, wealth, status, or other markers of
identity. Overcoming the painful divisions in the human family would be an
achievement worth celebrating in its own right, but it is also essential if
we are to unite and address the challenges and insecurities of our time.



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