International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21/03)

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is held annually on March 21 by decision of the XXI session of the UN General Assembly on October 26, 1966.

On this day in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people during a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, to protest apartheid laws requiring the certification of Africans in South Africa.

In proclaiming this Day in 1966, the UN General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. Thus affirming that racial discrimination can be considered a denial of human rights, fundamental freedoms and justice, and it is a crime against human dignity.

The UN also recognizes that discrimination — is a serious obstacle to economic and social development, as well as international cooperation and peace.

The United Nations strongly condemns racial discrimination and any policies associated with it are not only unacceptable, but also incompatible with the obligations assumed by the organization's member states under the UN Charter.

However, even today, harmful phenomena such as racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, which are often directed against migrants and refugees, are being revived in many regions of the world.

The UN again and again calls on all states to comply with the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to take effective measures, including legislative ones, to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, and to promote the ideas of tolerance, inclusion, unity and respect.

Among programs that can help combat racial discrimination, the UN considers, in particular, assistance in providing equal opportunities for general education and vocational training, as well as guarantees regarding the enjoyment (without discrimination on the basis of race, color or ethnic origin) of fundamental human rights, such as the right to vote, the right to equal access to social services.

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