Stop Racism

By Manuel Acevedo
Posted: 07/06/2022

The United Nations has a committee dedicated to fighting racial discrimination. But civil society organizations don’t always take full advantage of it.

Race & Equality recently published a report on the work of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the UN body in charge of overseeing the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, an international treaty ratified by every country in the Americas.

Across the region, governments have stated their commitment to combating racism and discrimination. These include the five countries in which we work: Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Peru.

But to reach its full potential, the Committee must overcome a number of challenges. First, CERD’s mission relies on greater engagement by citizens and organizations on the front lines. Second, greater efforts must be made to ensure governments take into account CERD recommendations on improving laws and policies to combat discrimination.

At Race & Equality we believe that greater participation by civil society in the Committee’s work is key. And a more effective Committee means more concrete actions by governments to reduce discrimination in the region.