People of African descent continue to face many prejudices and injustices through legacies of slavery and colonialism including police brutality and inequalities, President of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis said.
''Racism and racial discrimination are a flagrant violation of human rights,” Francis said during an event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in New York on Thursday.
“It is morally wrong, has no place in our world and must therefore be roundly repudiated,” he added.
In a move to galvanise efforts towards compensation for atrocities of colonialism and slavery committed by Western countries against Africans, the UN General Assembly president announced that a meeting on reparatory justice will be held on Monday.
‘Devastating’ legacies
This will coincide with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade marked annually on March 25.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also decried the legacies of enslavement and colonialism describing them as “devastating.”
Pointing to stolen opportunities, denied dignity, violated rights , lives taken and lives destroyed, Guterres said “racism is an evil infecting countries and societies around the world.”
The UN leaders noted that while racism impacts communities differently with people of African descent particularly affected.
“People of African descent face a unique history of systemic and institutionalised racism, and profound challenges today,” the UN chief said.
South Africa's trigger
“We must respond to that reality, learning from and building on the tireless advocacy of people of African descent.”
He urged governments to advance policies and other measures to eliminate racism against people of African descent and tech firms to urgently address racial bias in artificial intelligence.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on March 21 in commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre, the mass killing of 69 protesters in the South African city of Sharpeville by apartheid police.
The police opened fire on Black people during a peaceful demonstration against a discriminatory legislation known as “pass laws” in 1960.
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