UN Secretary-General Guterres calls for action against racial discrimination — Anadolu Agency

In Türkiye, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at a high-level meeting marking the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, called on states to take concrete measures against the lasting consequences of slavery, colonialism and racial discrimination. This was reported by Anadolu Agency.

Measures against discrimination

According to Guterres, the world must confront these consequences through concrete steps to ensure reparatory justice based on international human rights law.

He noted that racial discrimination takes various forms, including inequality, discriminatory laws and institutions, as well as depriving people of rights and equal opportunities. The UN secretary-general called on governments to strengthen and enforce anti-discrimination legislation, dismantle systemic discrimination and invest in inclusive societies.

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Digital technologies and the US position

Guterres also warned that digital technologies amplify hate speech and disinformation, spread falsehoods and harmful stereotypes, and fuel violence and abuse. He called on technology companies to identify and eliminate biases in artificial intelligence systems so that digital technologies promote equality and inclusion.

The UN chief called for the second International Decade for People of African Descent to become a decade of concrete change. He also called for universal ratification and full implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The United States is boycotting the commemorative events. US Ambassador to the UN for Management and Reform Jeff Bartos said Washington would not participate in an event connected with the Durban conference, whose legacy he described as poisonous. He also called on other countries to reject what he described as the conference's anti-American and anti-Western legacy. The United States left the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban. Bartos linked Washington's decision to how the United States assesses the conference's treatment of Israel and Western countries.