International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

A/RES/67/156View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 67a Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, published in 2013.

What else is in this group?

14 documents · 1966–2017

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2017).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2017	A/RES/71/180	International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination	263	–
2015	A/RES/69/161	International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination	318	–
2013	A/RES/67/156	International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination	1,941	–
2011	A/RES/65/200	International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination	2,051	–
2009	A/RES/63/243	International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination	1,704	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 subjects

Advisory Services Gender Mainstreaming Group Hatred International Obligations Racial Discrimination Reservations and Declarations Signatures, Accessions, Ratifications Technical Cooperation Treaty-Monitoring Bodies Xenophobia

What’s in this document?

30 operative paragraphs

I

Takes note of the reports of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on its seventy-eighth and seventy-ninth⁸ and its eightieth⁹ sessions;

⁸Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/66/18).

⁹Ibid., Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/67/18).

Commends the Committee for its contributions to the effective implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,Error: Reference source not found especially through the examination of reports under article 9 of the Convention, action on communications under article 14 of the Convention and thematic discussions, which contribute to the prevention and elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;

Calls upon States parties to fulfil their obligation under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention to submit their periodic reports on measures taken to implement the Convention in due time;

Expresses its concern at the fact that a great number of reports, in particular initial reports, are overdue and continue to be overdue, which constitutes an obstacle to the full implementation of the Convention;

Encourages States parties to the Convention whose reports are seriously overdue to avail themselves of the advisory services and technical assistance that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights can provide, upon their request, for the preparation of the reports;

Reiterates that States parties, in line with article 8 of the Convention, should take into account, in their nomination of members to the Committee, that the Committee shall be composed of persons of high moral standing and acknowledged impartiality, who shall serve in their personal capacity, and that consideration shall be given to equitable geographical distribution and to the representation of the different forms of civilization as well as of the principal legal systems, and encourages States parties to give due regard to the nomination of persons having legal experience, as well as recognized competence in the field of human rights, and to the equal representation of women and men;

Encourages the Committee to continue to cooperate and exchange information with United Nations bodies and mechanisms, in particular the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and other relevant mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, as well as with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations;

Encourages States parties to the Convention to continue to include a gender perspective in their reports to the Committee, and invites the Committee to take into account a gender perspective in the implementation of its mandate;

Also encourages States parties to the Convention to include information on measures to prevent and combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in their national reports to the universal periodic review mechanism of the Human Rights Council, and strongly encourages States parties to recognize those recommendations of the universal periodic review mechanism that originate from treaty body recommendations and treat them appropriately;

Notes with appreciation the engagement of the Committee in the follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;Error: Reference source not found

Expresses its appreciation for the efforts made so far by the Committee to improve the efficiency of its working methods, including with a view to further harmonizing the working methods of the treaty bodies, and encourages the Committee to continue its activities in this regard;

Welcomes, in this regard, measures taken by the Committee to follow up on its concluding observations and recommendations, such as the appointment of a follow-up coordinator¹⁰ and the adoption of the guidelines on follow-up;¹¹

¹⁰Ibid., Sixtieth Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/60/18), annex IV.

¹¹Ibid., Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/61/18), annex VI.

Encourages the continued participation of members of the Committee in the annual inter-committee meetings and meetings of chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies, especially with a view to a more coordinated approach to the activities of the treaty body system and standardized reporting as well as to solving the problem of the backlog of reports of States parties in an effective manner, including by identifying efficiencies and maximizing the use of their resources as well as learning and sharing best practices and experiences in this regard;

Recalls that the General Assembly decided to authorize the Committee to meet for an additional week per session, as a temporary measure, from August 2009 to 2012;

Welcomes the efforts made by the Committee to erase the backlog of reports pending consideration, and notes the role that improvements in efficient working methods and temporary additional meeting time have played in that regard;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on measures to improve further the effectiveness, harmonization and reform of the treaty body system, submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 65/200 and 65/204,Error: Reference source not found and the report of the open-ended intergovernmental process to conduct open, transparent and inclusive negotiations on how to strengthen and enhance the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system;¹²

¹²A/66/902, annex.

II.Financial situation of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the financial situation of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;¹³

¹³A/67/322.

Expresses its profound concern at the fact that a number of States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination have still not fulfilled their financial obligations, as shown in the report of the Secretary-General, and strongly appeals to all States parties that are in arrears to fulfil their outstanding financial obligations under article 8, paragraph 6, of the Convention;

Strongly urges States parties to the Convention to accelerate their national ratification procedures with regard to the amendment to the Convention concerning the financing of the Committee and to notify the Secretary-General expeditiously in writing of their agreement to the amendment, as decided upon at the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on 15 January 1992,Error: Reference source not found endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/111 and further reiterated at the Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties on 16 January 1996;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure adequate financial arrangements and to provide the necessary support, including an adequate level of Secretariat assistance, in order to ensure the functioning of the Committee and to enable it to cope with its increasing amount of work;

Also requests the Secretary-General to invite those States parties to the Convention that are in arrears to pay the amounts in arrears, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session;

III.Status of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

Reiterates its call for the universal ratification and effective implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by all States parties to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention;¹⁴

¹⁴A/67/321.

Expresses its satisfaction at the number of States that have ratified or acceded to the Convention, which now stands at 175;

Urges States parties to comply fully with their obligations under the Convention and to take into consideration the concluding observations and general recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;

Reaffirms its conviction that ratification of or accession to the Convention on a universal basis and the implementation of its provisions are necessary for the effectiveness of the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and for the implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and expresses its disappointment that universal ratification of the Convention was not achieved by the targeted date of 2005;

Urges States to limit the extent of any reservation they lodge to the Convention and to formulate any reservation as precisely and narrowly as possible in order to ensure that no reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention, to review their reservations on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing them, and to withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention;

Notes that the number of States parties to the Convention that have made the declaration provided for in article 14 of the Convention now stands at 54, and requests States parties that have not yet done so to consider making that declaration;

Invites the Chair of the Committee to present an oral report on the work of the Committee and to engage in an interactive dialogue with the General Assembly at its sixty-ninth session under the item entitled “Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”;

Decides to consider, at its sixty-ninth session, under the item entitled “Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance”, the reports of the Committee on its eighty-first and eighty-second and its eighty-third and eighty-fourth sessions, the report of the Secretary-General on the financial situation of the Committee and the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention.