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Systemic Racism Demands Action: A Call to Uphold the DDPA

The 60th Session of the Human Rights Council

8 September 2025 - 8 October 2025

Item 9: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the DDPA General Debate

Statement by International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

 

Delivered by Mutua K. Kobia

Thank you, Mr. President,

We remain deeply appalled by the persistence of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. These are not isolated incidents but systemic injustices that are ongoing and that take multiple forms. To combat them, we must commit to addressing their root causes at every level — social, economic, political, and institutional.

Yet, these efforts are consistently undermined by barriers that weaken the full implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Chief among these barriers are the lack of resources, limited publication and distribution, and the persistent distortion of information about the DDPA, which has deliberately reduced its visibility, accessibility, and impact.

Mr. President,

It must not be forgotten that the DDPA was a consensus outcome of the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban. As such, it represents a collective pledge of the international community. To sideline or minimize the DDPA is not only to undermine victims of racism, but also to renege on commitments that States themselves have undertaken.

We therefore urge all States to recommit to its full and effective implementation and to end the resistance that continues to obstruct this vital framework.

In conclusion, EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice recommend:

1. That Member States and the UN urgently prioritize funding, dissemination, and translation of the DDPA, ensuring its visibility, availability and use by policymakers, educators, communities, and people of influence; and

2. That the DDPA be fully integrated into national action plans, educational curricula, and training programmes, to confront systemic racism at its roots.

Thank you.

 Systemic Racism Demands Action: A Call to Uphold the DDPA
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The 60th Session of the Human Rights Council

8 September 2025 - 8 October 2025

Item 9: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the DDPA General Debate

Statement by International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

 

Delivered by Mutua K. Kobia

Thank you, Mr. President,

We remain deeply appalled by the persistence of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. These are not isolated incidents but systemic injustices that are ongoing and that take multiple forms. To combat them, we must commit to addressing their root causes at every level — social, economic, political, and institutional.

Yet, these efforts are consistently undermined by barriers that weaken the full implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Chief among these barriers are the lack of resources, limited publication and distribution, and the persistent distortion of information about the DDPA, which has deliberately reduced its visibility, accessibility, and impact.

Mr. President,

It must not be forgotten that the DDPA was a consensus outcome of the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban. As such, it represents a collective pledge of the international community. To sideline or minimize the DDPA is not only to undermine victims of racism, but also to renege on commitments that States themselves have undertaken.

We therefore urge all States to recommit to its full and effective implementation and to end the resistance that continues to obstruct this vital framework.

In conclusion, EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice recommend:

1. That Member States and the UN urgently prioritize funding, dissemination, and translation of the DDPA, ensuring its visibility, availability and use by policymakers, educators, communities, and people of influence; and

2. That the DDPA be fully integrated into national action plans, educational curricula, and training programmes, to confront systemic racism at its roots.

Thank you.

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