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NEWS - UNHCR Mary Robinson on Human
Subject: NEWS - UNHCR Mary Robinson on Human Rights Day 1999
09 December 1999
Text: UNHCR Mary Robinson on Human Rights Day 1999
(Great strides made in human rights over the past 50 years) (740)
Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
said
there have been great strides made over the past 50 years in
setting
comprehensive human rights norms and standards.
"But we must be honest and recognize how far performance lags
behind
the goal of human rights for all," Robinson said in a December 8
message that is to be delivered on December 10 in observance of
Human
Rights Day 1999.
"Each of us can play a role in fighting racism and xenophobia, in
places of learning, in the workplace, in our village, in our town,"
Robinson said. "In so doing, we will pay the greatest honor we can
to
the drafters of the Universal Declaration when they proclaimed that
all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights."
The world Conference against Racism will take place in South Africa
in
2001. The first Preparatory Conference will be held in Geneva in
May
2000. Regional conferences will take place throughout the world
over
the coming year.
Following is the United Nations text:
(begin text)
8 December 1999
UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
HAILS LAST HUMAN RIGHTS DAY OF MILLENNIUM
Following is the text of a message from Mary Robinson, UNHCR, to be
delivered on 10 December in observance of Human Rights Day 1999:
This last Human Rights Day of the century has a special resonance.
We
can draw encouragement from the great strides made over the past 50
years in setting comprehensive human rights norms and standards.
But
we must be honest and recognize how far performance lags behind the
goal of human rights for all. Who could be optimistic in the wake
of
one of humanity's bloodiest centuries? Or in the knowledge that,
despite the vow that genocide would never be repeated, it has
disfigured the world more than once in the past decade?
Yet, I believe that we should face the new century in a spirit of
hope
and determination. Hope based on the fact that important battles
have
been won -- for example, the defeat of apartheid. Determination in
that human rights are now centre stage, and there may never be as
good
an opportunity to really implement all human rights in practice --
economic, social and cultural as well as civil and political. A
major
challenge in the face of different perceptions of globalization
will
be to find common grounds in promoting the right to development.
Racism, racial discrimination, intolerance and xenophobia are at
the
forefront of my thoughts this year as the preparations get underway
for the world Conference against Racism which will take place in
South
Africa in 2001. Next May the first Preparatory Conference will be
held
in Geneva. Regional conferences will take place throughout the
world
over the coming year.
Racism and xenophobia are powerful causes of conflict; in fact, if
you
look closely at the roots of history's most violent confrontations,
you will see their malign influence at work. And they are found
everywhere. No society is free from at least some people who are
intolerant of difference, whether ethnic or religious, and whose
intolerance finds violent expression. The vital importance of the
World Conference against Racism lies in its potential to shape a
new
vision of the fight against racism for the twenty-first century. It
will be my aim, as Secretary General of the Conference, to ensure
that
new, practical strategies are identified to combat racism and
xenophobia more effectively.
I shall look in particular to women leaders and to young people to
take initiatives in their national and local communities which help
us
to shape a global community committed to the cause of human rights
for
all, irrespective of race, gender or creed. It is fitting that the
World Conference will take place in South Africa where Nelson
Mandela
has set such an example of forgiveness over hatred, reconciliation
over revenge.
Each of us can play a role in fighting racism and xenophobia, in
places of learning, in the workplace, in our village, in our town.
In
so doing, we will pay the greatest honour we can to the drafters of
the Universal Declaration when they proclaimed that all human
beings
are born equal in dignity and rights.
(end text)