Progress Towards Dismantling Racial Discrimination Globally: How International Human Rights Law Supports Justice at All Levels

On 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid “pass laws” in Sharpeville, South Africa. This tragic event marked a turning point, commemorated annually to honour those who lost their lives fighting for democracy and racial equality in South Africa. Since then, 21 March has become a solemn reminder of the high cost of the struggle against the apartheid regime and a call to the international community to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

The Sharpeville massacre galvanized the adoption, five years later, of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) – a landmark achievement of the United Nations just two decades after its founding. The visionaries who came together 60 years ago to adopt the Convention recognized racial discrimination as a blight on humanity that must be eliminated as a matter of great urgency for all nations of the world.

Today, with 185 countries having ratified or signed the Convention, it stands as one of the most widely embraced human rights treaties, spanning every continent, legal system, faith and culture. It remains the cornerstone of United Nations efforts to combat racism and racial discrimination. Reflecting on the progress made under the Convention, there is much to celebrate, but first, it is important to recall the scale and complexity of the challenges faced.

The painful legacy of racism and discrimination has scarred societies globally. Millions have lost their lives or had their dreams diminished or denied because of the false ideology that one life is superior to another.

Indigenous peoples on every continent have suffered centuries of dispossession, forced assimilation and systemic discrimination.

The horrors of the transatlantic slave trade, which forcibly uprooted up to 15 million Africans and subjected them to lives of brutality solely for financial gain, still echo today in the lived experiences of people of African descent.

Asian communities in many countries have faced colonial exploitation, exclusionary laws and violence rooted in prejudice.

Roma communities have endured centuries of bigotry and exclusion.

Children born today still face their life chances limited by societal structures based on descent.

Those merely seeking better lives, who often undertake rigorous journeys and risk drowning in overcrowded boats, are confronted by borders closed by bigotry.

Millions suffer quiet, daily acts of violence because of opportunities foreclosed and dreams denied. They face limited prospects for education and healthcare as well as stalled career advancement. They endure daily struggles for self-identity against dangerous assumptions and hateful stereotypes, and are made weary by constant battles for cultural recognition. These wounds accumulate across lifetimes and generations, reshaping the possibilities available for entire communities.

Racism and discrimination are not abstract concepts; they are deep injuries inflicted on the soul of nations and humanity.

These injustices are not confined to any single country or region. At the third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa in 2001, governments acknowledged that racial discrimination exists everywhere and that combating it is a global priority.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has been tasked with using international law to heal these wounds. Since the adoption of ICERD, progress has been made at the international, regional, national and local levels. However, progress has been slower and less comprehensive than hoped, with many gains at risk of being reversed.

Achieving the world envisioned by the 69 brave South Africans we honour each 21 March is a task too vast for any single institutional mechanism. Ending racial discrimination must be a priority for all institutions and nations.

Thankfully, CERD has vital allies in this enormous challenge; most important among them are those affected by racial discrimination. Much of the work of the Committee is driven by continuous information and appeals from communities harmed by policies and structures of inequality, including communities of African descent, Roma, Indigenous peoples, and other marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Their courage and resilience continuously inspire CERD, and their collaboration in the Committee’s work is essential.

Other civil society actors and human rights defenders also play a crucial role in submitting vital assessments to CERD. In many countries, national human rights institutions have become key monitors of human rights and racial justice issues, and CERD has granted them special recognition to present reports when governments appear before the Committee.

Within the United Nations, CERD has been joined by institutional bodies forming a “new architecture” of anti-racism mechanisms: the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent; the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement; the Group of Independent Eminent Experts on the Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; and the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. These partners are indispensable in the fight against racism.

From six decades of the work to implement ICERD, nuanced understandings have emerged about racial discrimination and how to eradicate it.

Global challenges such as financial crises, food shortages and climate change exacerbate problems faced by racialized communities. In some cases, these vulnerabilities stem from long-standing discrimination. Poverty leaves communities without reserves to withstand crises or disasters. Economic downturns often increase social pressures to scapegoat the most vulnerable, fuelling hate speech, violence and threats to democracy through racist policies or leaders.

Discrimination is now recognized as a key driver of poverty. Marginalized racial groups are disproportionately found in low-skilled, low-wage, informal sectors such as domestic work, agriculture and street vending, which often lack labour protections and social security.

Women bear complex burdens of poverty, ethnic prejudice and gender-based restrictions, creating profound obstacles.

Beyond the disempowering personal impacts of racism and discrimination, it is critically important to understand its structural nature. In societies with endemic racial bias, institutions perpetuate inequality. Addressing this requires identifying and dismantling institutional structures that maintain racial hierarchies. Policies and practices with negative impacts on disadvantaged communities must be revised, and exclusionary cultures and traditions changed.

Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws and strong enforcement institutions are essential, with procedures that can be initiated by victims themselves or their representatives.

Governments must implement robust special measures to address disparities in economic participation, especially in employment, education, training, financial services, land tenure and property rights. Labour protections and social security should extend to low-wage and informal workers.

Affirmative action initiatives should be part of a broader equality strategy, including legislative initiatives, targeted budgets, benchmarks and quotas.

All policy decisions must be guided by meaningful consultation with groups impacted by racial discrimination and based on disaggregated data revealing inequalities.

Today, racial justice demonstrations worldwide call for the right to work, the right to housing, equal access to quality education and healthcare, and a living wage. These demands resonate in both developing and developed economies.

There is growing consensus among global development institutions on addressing income inequality and poverty. However, many international development programmes have failed to change the realities of communities suffering endemic discrimination. The hopeful mantra “leave no one behind” remains aspirational rather than operational.

Racism constantly evolves, infecting global systems and shaping realities within and between nations. It cannot be eradicated by efforts confined to national borders. Racism is embedded in foreign policies and hidden in trade agreements; it controls the distribution of life-saving vaccines, climate crisis preparedness and responses, maternal health outcomes and migration policies.

The three most recent general recommendations of CERD highlight urgent priorities: general recommendation No. 37 on the right to health, general recommendations Nos. 38 and 39 on eradicating xenophobia against migrants, and general recommendation No. 40 on reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.

However, perhaps one of the greatest threats to the achievements of the past 60 years may be the rise of exclusionary governments around the world that use racism as political ideology and electoral platforms. In a climate that is contesting the usefulness of international law and a rules-based order, the very concept of accountability based on an international treaty against racial discrimination is challenged.