52nd regular session of the Human Rights Council

27th February - 4th April 2023

Item 9: General debate on Xenophobia, Racism, Racial Discrimination and Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

Joint statement with International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations (ISMUN), Ma’onah for Human Rights and Immigration and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)

30th March 2023 

Mr President, As we are approaching the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration we wish to stress the importance of good faith implementation of UN resolutions by the UN secretariat and the OHCHR. Both after the 10th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Human Rights Council has felt the need to address the failure by the OHCHR to support these anniversaries. In October 2022 the OHCHR was requested by the Council to fully implement what the General Assembly had requested it to do for 2021, namely a public information campaign and by increasing efforts to promote the true nature of the DDPA. And of the specific DDPA outreach programme which the Council decided on in 2021 very little has been seen, in particular with regard to correcting disinformation on the real content of the DDPA. Despite repeated calls from member states and civil society the OHCHR have so far refused to publish the General Assembly adopted Programme of Activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent in view of the OHCHR difference with the two opening paragraphs of the Programme. At its 51st session the Council made a formal request to the OHCHR to publish the Decade programme in an easily accessible brochure format for wide dissemination. We are still waiting for this request by the Council to be implemented.