Professor Fethi Mansouri, UNESCO UniTwin Convenor, Inter-religious Dialogue and Intercultural Understanding (IDIU) is pleased to provide information on the forthcoming UNESCO Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination to be held online on 22 March 2021.

The recent manifestations of the upsurge in racial discrimination, including racial violence, as seen in global protest movements, require a renewed commitment from the international community to build a strong front to thwart racism. Various forms of direct, indirect and systemic discrimination, targeting individuals and populations based on their ethnicity, origin, identity (including cultural and religious), gender, age, socio-economic status, disability, inter alia, have proliferated in societies, normalized these social ills, and exacerbated inequalities and exclusion, especially within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a response to this situation and in line with the Global Call against Racism adopted at the 210th session of the UNESCO Executive Board, UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Programme will organize a multi-stakeholder Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination on 22 March 2021. This will also be UNESCO’s contribution to the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action.

The Forum will be held in the context of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March). 

Further information is available here.