‘The legacy of slavery still affects millions of people of African descent around the world. In many cases, even when the old structures that institutionalized racism are gone, the after-effects still cause damage.’ This was said by Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General said on 6 December 2011.
Ms. Migiro urged States to continue to combat racism, xenophobia and intolerance, calling upon them to boost their efforts to combat systematic discrimination.
The Deputy Secretary General made these remarks at the closure of the International Year for People of African Descent.
Ms. Migiro praised the progress made since the World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa, was held 10 years ago, saying this should encourage countries to continue to work on this issue.
‘States have strengthened constitutional protections. They had adopted legislation and action plans to fight racial discrimination.
‘In some cases, for the first time, societies recognized the very existence of people of African descent. This may be difficult to fathom, but just a few years back, these people were all but invisible in the countries where they lived, raised their children and contributed their labour.’
Ms. Migiro said she was pleased with advances made over the past year, pointing to the General Assembly’s adoption in September of a consensus text against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, ten years after a global conference in Durban, South Africa, sought to uproot all forms of racism.
Cleophas Tsokodayi is the author of the book: Namibia's Independence Struggle: The Role of the United Nations.
Comments