What is the World Conference?

In 1997, the United Nations General Assembly (in Resolution 52/111) decided to convene its 3rd World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance no later than 2001. This decision reflected both growing international concern over the rise in the incidents of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, anti-semitism and related intolerance, and recognition of the challenges and opportunities for combating these phenomena in an increasingly globalized world.

The same General Assembly resolution listed the objectives of the World Conference as being to review both the factors that caused racism and the progress being made in the fight against it to date; and also to educate people about it and to formulate concrete policies to combat it in the future.

In the lead-up to the World Conference, the United Nations has organised regional meetings of countries and of non-governmental organisations, which have been held in France (October 2000), Chile (December 2000), Senegal (January 2001) and Tehran (February 2001), as well as other preparatory meetings in Geneva and New York. The Secretary-General of the World Conference Against Racism is the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Previous World Conferences have resulted in human rights recommendations being incorporated into UN and government agency agendas, as occurred after the Beijing Conference on Women in 1995. This year’s World Conference is significant in that it will again be a meeting place for various stakeholders – governments, business leaders, and community groups – to come up with practical suggestions and timelines on how to tackle racism. If governments support the World Conference, it will set a new agenda for dealing globally with racism over the coming decades, galvanizing the world into action rather than mere rhetoric.

What is meant by Racism?

The definition of racial discrimination for the World Conference is the one contained in Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to which Australia is a party:

"In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life".

The Convention is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Committee examines the report cards of states which have signed and ratified the Convention every four years. This important functions strengthens the effectiveness of the Convention in practical ways. The Committee’s recommendations on how countries are implementing the Convention’s provisions aim to encourage countries to do more. In 2000, the Committee examined Australia’s latest reports. In Australia, the Convention was incorporated into domestic law by the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Despite this fact and the fact that successive governments have publicly committed to stamping out racism, it is a sad reality that racism is still at large in Australia.

Racism takes many different forms. It can range from abusive language or discriminatory treatment to genocide, simply on the basis of someone’s 'race' or colour. Yet race has no scientific basis; it is in fact a harmful social myth. Every day, science proves more clearly that humanity, although diverse, is one family and one people. Sadly our common experience also shows that racism, hatred or dislike of others simply because of their origin or culture is a common human failing. Eradicating racism is a task we all share.

It is important to recognize that racial discrimination does not always affect men and women equally, or in the same way. Race, gender, sexuality, disability, age, religious beliefs, ethnicity, colour, nationality, citizenship status, socio-economic status, cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds, can all overlap and result in very specific types of discrimination. We must always examine those connecting factors when considering racial discrimination.

 What is meant by Institutional Racism?

Racism is not only reflected in personal attitudes and behaviours, it can be expressed in the values, presumptions, structures and processes of social, economic, cultural and political institutions. Such institutional racism is less direct and harder to identify for what it is than personal attitudes and behaviour.  Structures and processes may appear to be non-discriminatory but in fact operate to systematically advantage or value some groups over others.

For example, in the modern globalized market economy, the poor and the marginalized are frequently members of racial or ethnic groups whose position has been determined by generations of exploitation, oppression and discrimination. Racism then reinforces the inequalities -- people from ethnic minorities impoverished and disenfranchised by historical developments are viewed as somehow inferior and then blamed for their own deprivation. Such racist attitudes then act to further block their access to education, land, jobs and positions of influence. This is particularly the case in relation to Indigenous peoples, historically forced from their traditional lands and society, who find themselves excluded from contemporary society, while their culture is increasingly threatened in an era of globalisation.

Around the world, racism is being nourished by increasingly xenophobic responses to forced and voluntary migration. Immigrants, migrant workers and asylum-seekers, who have left their homes in search of a life with basic dignity and security, are often met with ill-treatment and denial of their rights. Often, increasing harshness of treatment is accompanied by a general increase in racist or xenophobic sentiment in the general community and the mass media. This is happening everywhere - in the northern and southern hemispheres, in the East and West, and in developing as well as industrialized countries.

Harsh treatment of migrants appears to be increasingly integral to official immigration policies, both reflecting and contributing to inflamed xenophobic fears among populations at large. Underlying these developments is a failure to see our shared humanity. All of us share a responsibility of caring for every human person, irrespective of where they come from. Racism is both a contributing factor in and a symptom of such policies.

Click below to move to the following pages of the kit:

1. Racism (top of this page)
2. Why is Racism a Human Rights Issue?
3. Why is the World Conference so important?
4. Action Kit

Return to Introduction

This kit is supported by the following organisations (in alphabetical order) in April 2001: Amnesty International Australia, Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Coalition Against Racism WA, Human Rights Council of Australia Inc., Quaker Service Australia, The Religious Society of Friends in Australia (Quakers),Western Australians for Racial Equality, WA Social Justice Commission - Uniting Church in Australia.