Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 87 Implementation of the Programme of Action for the 2nd Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, published in 1988.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 1983–2002

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/56/265

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2002	A/RES/56/265	Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination	634	19%Compare
1997	A/RES/51/81	Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination	1,595	71%Compare
1996	A/RES/50/136	Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination	1,374	31%Compare
1995	A/RES/49/146	Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination	3,613	79%Compare
1994	A/RES/48/91	Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination	4,023	—

What’s in this document?

24 operative paragraphs

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 2 Discrimination

the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,3 the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime

VI.

Declares once again that all forms of racism and racial discrimination, particularly in their institutionalized form, such as apartheid, or resulting from official doctrines of racial superiority or exclusivity, are among the most serious violations of human rights in the contemporary world and must be combated by all available means;

Decides that the international community, in general, and the United Nations, in particular, should continue to give the highest priority to programmes for combating racism, racial discrimination and apartheid, and to intensify their efforts, during the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, to provide assistance and relief to the victims of racism and all forms of racial discrimination and apartheid, especially in South Africa and Namibia and in occupied territories and territories under alien domination;

7 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.83.XIV.4 and corrigendum.

s Ibid., chap. II.

9 A/42/493.

10 A/42/492.

Appeals to all Governments and to international and non-governmental organizations to increase and intensify their activities to combat racism, racial discrimination and apartheid and to provide relief and assistance to the victims of these evils;

Takes note of the report submitted by the Secretary- General containing information on the activities of Governments, specialized agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, as well as United Nations organs, to give effect to the Programme of Action for the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination;9 5.

Urgently requests the Secretary-General to ensure the effective and immediate implementation of those activities proposed for the first half of the Decade which have not yet been undertaken;

Takes note of the report submitted by the Secretary- General on the study on the effects of racial discrimination in the field of education, training and employment as it affects the children of minorities, in particular those of migrant workers, 10 and requests him to continue the study and to submit, inter alia, specific recommendations for the implementation of measures to combat the effects of that discrimination;

Again requests the Secretary-General to transmit his study on the role of private group action to combat racism and racial discrimination 11 to Governments, specialized agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council in order to obtain their views and an indication from them of further relevant materials, and to submit to the General Assembly at its forty-third session a final report on this topic;

Requests the Secretary-General to prepare and issue as soon as possible a collection of model legislation for the guidance of Governments in the enactment of further legislation against racial discrimination;

Takes note of the training course held in New York from 8 to 18 September 1987 that focused on the preparation of national legislation against racism and racial discrimination and requests the Secretary-General to submit a report on the subject to the Economic and Social Council at its first regular session of 1988;

Renews its invitation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to expedite the preparation of teaching materials and teaching aids to promote teaching, training and educational activities on human rights and against racism and racial discrimination, with particular emphasis on activities at the primary and secondary levels of education;

Again requests the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights to consider the need for updating the study on racial discrimination; 12 12.

Also requests the Sub-Commission to complete as soon as possible the study of the results achieved and the obstacles encountered during the first Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and the first half of the Second Decade;

Once again authorizes the Secretary-General to organize in 1988 a global consultation on racial discrimination involving representatives of the United Nations system,

regional intergovernmental organizations and interested non-governmental organizations in consultative

11 A/41/550.

12 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.76.XIV.2.

status with the Economic and Social Council, to focus on the co-ordination of international activities to combat racism and racial discrimination, and requests him to disseminate widely the results of that consultation;

Again requests the Economic and Social Council to envisage the organization, within the framework of its plan of activities for the period 1985-1989, of a seminar on cultural dialogue between the countries of origin and the host countries of migrant workers;

Emphasizes the importance of adequate recourse procedures for victims of racism and racial discrimination and therefore requests the Secretary-General, in the light of the results of the seminars held on this topic, to prepare and finalize, with the appropriate assistance of qualified experts if possible, a handbook of recourse procedures;

Considers that all the parts of the Programme of Action for the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination should receive equal attention in order to attain the objectives of the Second Decade;

Approves the plan of activities proposed for the period 1990-1993 contained in the annex to the present resolution;

Invites the Secretary-General to proceed with the implementation of the activities for the period 1990-1993 listed in the annex to the present resolution;

Requests the Secretary-General to accord the highest priority, in executing the plan of activities, to measures for combating apartheid;

Reaffirms the necessity of co-ordinating the full range of programmes under implementation by the United Nations system as they relate to the objectives of the Second Decade, and emphasizes the importance of an operational, viable and effective institutional machinery to this end;

Invites all Governments, United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, as well as interested non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, to participate fully in the implementation of the plans of activities for the periods 1985-1989 and 1990-1993 by intensifying and broadening their efforts to bring about the speedy elimination of apartheid and all forms of racism and racial discrimination;

Considers that voluntary contributions to the Trust Fund for the Programme for the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination are indispensable for the implementation of the above-mentioned programmes;

Strongly appeals to all Governments, organizations and individuals in a position to do so to contribute generously to the Trust Fund and, to this end, requests the Secretary-General to undertake appropriate contacts and initiatives to encourage contributions;

Reiterates its request to the Economic and Social Council, throughout the Second Decade, to submit annually to the General Assembly a report containing, inter a/ia:

An enumeration of the activities undertaken or contemplated to achieve the objectives of the Second Decade, including the activities of Governments, United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and other international and regional organizations, as well as nongovernmental organizations;

A review and appraisal of those activities;

(c)

Its suggestions and recommendations;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the

plementation of the present resolution;

Decides to keep the item entitled "Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination" on its agenda throughout the Second Decade and to consider it as a matter of the highest priority at its forty-third session.

Date of Page No.

Title Item adoption

Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

VI.

Table of contents