racial discrimination

The New UN Forum on People of African descent: realising the promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action?

The United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum of People of African Descent will hold its very first session from 5 to 8 December 2022 at the Palais des Nations of the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tuesday 29 November 2022, from 1 to 3 PM CET (Zurich time)

(7:00 AM in New York City, USA / 9:30 AM in Curitiba, Brazil / 1 PM Yaoundé, Cameroon / 7 PM in Bangkok, Thailand)

Ahead of this historic session, the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) offers a virtual side event entitled The New UN Forum for People of African descent: realising the promises of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA)?

Register here!

Some of the issues which will be raised include:

What are the lessons learnt since the 2001 Durban World Conference Against Racism? What kind of progress have we witnessed at the UN and other regional fora?
What can we hope from this new body? How can churches contribute to its work?
Policy efforts to combat systemic racism and racial discrimination
Structural racism as the legacy of slavery and colonialism: communities of African descent across the globe live in structural discrimination and structural invisibility, and are scarred by poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities.

Moderator: Rev. Jennifer S. Leath, WCC Central Committee member, African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)

Panellists:

Rev. Dr Iva Carruthers, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
Dr. Sushi Raj, member of UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
Ms Marilia A. Schüller, Methodist Church of Brazil
Rev. Dr Angelique Walker-Smith, WCC President from North America
Rev. Emmanuel Wayi, Cameroon Network for Alternative Solutions (CAMNAS)
Rev. Lamont Wells, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit un-ngocrip.net.

Racial discrimination and the right to health, Day of General Discussion 2022

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is starting the elaboration of its General Recommendation n°37 on racial discrimination and the right to health under Article 5 (e)(iv) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

To start this process, the Committee will convene a day of general discussion at its 107th session, on 23 August 2022 and is inviting State parties, national human rights institutions, civil society and grassroots organisations, academia, other relevant stakeholders (i.e., health-related entities or laboratories) and international organisations to provide relevant information to participate in this consultation process by providing information on any of the issues raised in this questionnaire [العربية | English | Français | Español] or by making submissions on any other aspects of article 5 (e)(iv) that they deem relevant.

Written submissions must be submitted to ohchr-cerd-gr37@un.org, before 1 July 2022 in one of the official working languages of the Committee: English, French or Spanish and should be limited to a maximum of 10 pages. Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies, and other background materials may be annexed to the submission.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

Two years after the death of George Floyd: Antiracism, #BLM and the United Nations

As people continue to challenge the systemic racism that has devalued the lives of Black and Brown people globally, many are asking the question: why do some of these tragic events spark a stronger call for change than others?

Floyd’s murder also revived the concept of antiracism. The webinar will explore, in practice, what it means to be antiracist. Participants will also be invited to reflect on the role played by Christian nationalism in reinforcing white supremacy and racial subjugation, thereby fueling racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination.

As a follow up of its 1 June 2021 webinar marking the 100^th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs will host this webinar on the sides of the 30th session of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, which will be taking place in New York city, USA, from 23 to 27 May 2022.

Speakers:

Moderator: Rev. Chebon Kernell, ordained elder in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference

Gaynel D. Curry, member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
Rt. Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rev. Dr. Leah Gunning Francis, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the Faculty at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis
Prof. Gay McDougall, member of the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

Register here to join this webinar live on Wednesday, 25 May, 3:30 pm CEST / 9:30am EST.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

Past, Present and Future: Conflict and Cooperation in U.S. – China Relations

The U.S. and China

Past, Present and Future: Conflict and Cooperation in U.S.-China Relations

The prophetic historian Howard Zinn taught that if we don’t know our history, we can’t be free. Without that knowledge, he warned, whenever a president comes on TV and says that we are in danger from here or there, we lack the framework needed to critically judge its truth. Today the near unanimous Washington, media, and even scholarly and expert consensus is that China poses a dire threat to democracy and freedom around the world, and that our freedom requires defend them by challenging and containing China militarily, economically, technologically, diplomatically, and politically. Provocative military operations near Taiwan or in the South China Sea carry the danger of an accident or miscalculation escalating to war, even a nuclear war. Demonization of China also drives anti-Asian racism and violence across the United States, which must immediately be ended.

Understanding Chinese history and the history of U.S.-China relations provides us what we need to advocate for mutually beneficial policies and diplomacy, bringing the world back from the brink and opening the way for collaborations to address the existential threat of nuclear weapons, the climate emergency, and pandemics. Professors Mark Seldon and Zhiqun Zhu are uniquely qualified to share the essential histories of China and of U.S.–Chinese cooperation and competition.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZModOmorz4rHtwRKZ9w0MwVaDenIP6Hy8GI

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

The Role of the United Nations in the Struggle Against Racism: Past, Present and Future

In commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, UN Women will host a special discussion on The Role of the United Nations in the Struggle against Racism: Past, Present and Future.

Is the United Nations fit for purpose to take on the task of ending racism today? Looking at the past and present to inform the future, join the discussion, featuring:

Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Trinidad and Tobago Minister Penelope Beckles (former PR to the UN)
Yumeka Rushing, NAACP Chief Strategy Officer
Cassandra Welchin, Co-Convener and State Lead of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable
and others

Please click here to register in advance for this webinar:
https://unwomen.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vYoy7SJmTXOSqbjN46xYQw

Click here to view the flyer for the event

Condemn racism and discrimination wherever they occur: act to create racial justice and a gender-equal, inclusive world! Click here for the statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Kind regards,
UN Women

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

2021: A Defining Year for Accelerating Gender Equality, Equity and Justice (7th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion in International Affairs)

REGISTRATION IS GROWING. REGISTER NOW TO RESERVE SPACE: https://bit.ly/34ir0Tx

Please join us for the 7th Annual Symposium on the Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs.

2021 Theme: “2021: A Defining Year for Accelerating Gender Equality, Equity and Justice.”

Tuesday, 26 January 2021

8:00 am – 12:30 pm (New York)
2:00 pm – 6:30 pm (Geneva)
8:00 pm – 12:30 am (Bangkok)
10:00 pm – 02:30 am (Seoul)
12:00 am – 4:30 am (Sydney)

The Symposium will focus on overcoming pervasive gender inequalities and discrimination as an essential contribution to reshaping the world as we recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic and to achieving sustainable peace and development. It will explore how faith actors and institutions can work in tandem with governments, the United Nations, and broader civil society to accelerate the pace towards gender equality, equity and justice, presenting directions based on innovative approaches. The Symposium will not shy away from honest appraisal of both the contributions of faith actors to this agenda as well as pointing to where and how they are hindering progress, but will primarily serve as a space to recommit to achieving gender justice, grounded in both faith values and universal human rights, and as part of our commitment to begin a more critical understanding of race, post-colonialism and intersectionality within international development discourse and practice.

Those gathered online will focus on overcoming pervasive gender inequalities and discrimination as an essential contribution to reshaping the world as we recover and rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. The overarching goal is to provide the opportunity to explore together ways to scale up work for gender justice, and to recommit to achieving it.

Participants will explore how faith actors and institutions can work in tandem with governments, the United Nations, and broader civil society to accelerate the pace towards gender equality, equity and justice.

Symposium is organized by the World Council of Churches, ACT Alliance, General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church, Islamic Relief, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Soka Gakkai International, United Religions Initiative, and UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, for the United Nations Inter-agency Task Force on Religion and Development.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-New York, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org.