"Denying historical facts, especially on such an important subject as the Holocaust, is just not acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to call for the elimination of any State or people. I would like to see this fundamental principle respected both in rhetoric and in practice by all the members of the international community."
United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon,
Press Conference SG/2120, 14 December 2006
About the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
What's New?
SG Ban Ki-moon opened the seminar during which
Internet experts discussed
how to combat internet hate speech and cyberbullying
Footprints for Hope
United Nations information centres are invited to join the Footprints for Hope Project, the newest initiative of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
(Picture Credit: Olivia Hemingway)
Rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either
in full or in part, the General Assembly
adopted by consensus a resolution (A/RES/60/7) condemning "without
reserve" all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement,
harassment or violence against persons or communities
based on ethnic
origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.
It decided that the United Nations would designate 27 January -– the
anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp -- as an
annual International Day of Commemoration
to honour the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to
develop educational programmes to instil the memory of the tragedy in
future generations to prevent genocide from
occurring again, and
requested the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an outreach
programme on the
"Holocaust and the United Nations", as well as
measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and
education, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.
The Holocaust was a turning point in history, which prompted the world
to say "never again"". The significance of resolution A/RES/60/7 is
that it calls for a remembrance of past crimes
with an eye towards
preventing them in the future.