The Durban Review Conference in Geneva, April 20-24, 2009
It is important to clarify that the Durban Review Conference was not “Durban 2”, as many attendees had mistakenly assumed. The Conference was convened to assess and advance the implementation of the measures established at the Durban 2001 Conference in South Africa and written in the “Durban Declaration and Program of Action” (DDPA), the most important framework to date for combating racism, xenophobia, and other forms of racial discrimination on a global basis.
Although hundreds of NGOs from the U.S. urged the Obama Administration to re-engage in the review process, many were disappointed and rightly concerned that the decision not to appear ran counter to the Administration’s commitment to diplomacy and dialogue. The good news is that the many U.S. NGOs present will work to convince the Administration of the need for leadership in reaffirming the U.S.’ commitment to human rights and democracy, and demonstrate to the world our willingness to lead by example to eradicate all forms of racial discrimination and to share our good practices.
The negotiated text of the Review Committee was universally accepted by all of the nations in attendance. Two regional meetings had been held in Brazil and Nigeria in 2006, in preparation for the Review Conference process. Yuri Boichenko of the Russian Permanent Mission was selected as First Chair of the Working Group in 2008. It is now time for the new administration to positively express its total opposition to racism, xenophobia, and all forms of intolerance under the CERD Treaty, and to state its commitment and adoption of the language in both the Durban Declaration, and the Review Committee’s final document, April 24, 2009.
&mdash Report by Judge Claudia Morcom
MCLI's delegate Victoria Sawicki first, quick comment: “It was all very exciting, inspirational and frustrating all at the same time. So what else is new.”