Welcome
Welcoming
Statement by Foreign Minister Dlamini Zuma
Welcome to the website of the World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which will be held from
31 August to 7 September 2001 in Durban, South Africa. As host and co-organisers with the
United Nations Secretariat of this event, I wish to encourage you to use this website,
whether you be a delegate from a UN Member State or a member of the general public
interested in the issues to be discussed during the World Conference. We have tried to
ensure that the site either provides documentation on the substantive issues of the World
Conference or provides clear links to the sites where such information can be directly
sourced.
The history of South Africa and the struggle by the
majority of our people against apartheid is known throughout the world. Governments,
non-governmental organisations and the people of the world supported the national
liberation struggle. We in South Africa, and our system of democratic government which
came into being in 1994, continue to celebrate the victory of human spirit and endurance
over oppression, racism and racial discrimination.
South Africa will never forget the enormous contribution
made to its struggle for freedom by many governments and countless people throughout the
world. We want all of you to share in our ongoing joy and toil in creating a non-racial
and non-sexist society in South Africa.
While the struggle against apartheid has been won, the
struggle by all of us against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance continues.
It is with this purpose in mind that we agreed to host this
Third World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance (WCAR), seventeen years after the Second World Conference to Combat Racism and
Racial Discrimination. Progress has been made in the struggle against racism and racial
discrimination in our Southern African region after the Second World Conference. The
demise of apartheid in South Africa and the emergence of Namibia and Zimbabwe from
colonialism is evidence of this progress.
However, we are saddened by the many instances of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance throughout the world, which
continue to be experienced.
Across the globe, we must all, as governments, civil
society and individuals, combat the scourges of racism, racial discrimination and related
intolerance wherever and whenever we find them. We must focus our energies on finding the
best solutions to these problems and I believe that if we engage ourselves constructively
in our preparations for the WCAR and produce effective combative mechanisms, we shall
achieve the objectives of the Conference. This is imperative for our children and the
generations to come, the freedom to live in a more tolerant global environment – a
world without racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
I would like therefore to extend an invitation to you to
become involved in the preparations for this, the Third World Conference. The Conference
has two main forums. They are the Non-Governmental Organisations Forum from 28 to 31
August 2001 and the Official Inter-Governmental Forum from 31 August to 7 September 2001.
I hope that the information on this website, and on all the
sites linked hereto, will be sufficient to ensure that you will actively and
constructively support the objectives of the World Conference.
What better gift can we give to the future
generation that a world free of racism?
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Message
from the Director General, Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sipho M Pityana
The purpose of the website is to inform, disseminate
information and stimulate discussion around the issues relevant to the WCAR in order to
facilitate the preparatory process for the WCAR. The website therefore seeks to supplement
and complement other initiatives in this respect. In order to gain a comprehensive
overview of the global preparatory process, it is proposed that interested parties should
consider the information contained herein in the context of other contributions to related
websites, particularly those of the United Nations, other Non-Governmental Organisations
as well as civil society in general.
Further, we hope that the users of the website will
continue to engage with and address all issues of the WCAR in order to assist global
efforts towards reaching a successful outcome of the Conference. We hope that the outcome
will be realistic, practical and implementable. The resulting Declaration and Programme of
Action should also unite all delegations in the implementation of the decisions of the
Conference.
The divide between the North and South has to be addressed
comprehensively. The Conference offers us an opportunity to deliberate and address in an
honest and open manner, the issues of racism and related intolerance that continue to
plague society, the world over. Of particular concern to all of us, apart from the forms
in which racism has continued to manifest itself, are the rising incidents of contemporary
and new forms of racism.
Racism manifests itself in the unequal treatment of people
based on an unscientific or irrational basis. It thus excludes such people from having
access to national resources as well as deriving benefit therefrom. To this end, full
access to these resources forms a key step in efforts to keep racism and racial
discrimination in check. Consequently, variable options should be considered towards the
creation of partnerships and other forms of cooperation in order to reduce the gap between
people within national boundaries and people in developed and developing countries.
It is also significant that a conference that focuses on
racism and racial discrimination should take place at the dawn of a new century on the
continent of Africa, which was subject to the worst instances of racial discrimination and
oppression over the past centuries. It is even more symbolic that it takes place in South
Africa, a country that has not only emerged from a history of legalised racism but whose
people demonstrated resilience in continuously asserting and upholding the universal
principles of equality, human rights and dignity.
We look forward to receiving delegates from the
international community at every level, from government officials to the non-governmental
sector, women, youth, civil society and all marginalised people as well as victims of
racism from all walks of life.
In this regard, we are mindful that South Africa’s
society is a microcosm of the global village. The city of Durban especially, with its rich
history of a blending of the cultures of Africa, Europe and Asia, celebrates the
harmonious co-existence of unity in diversity on the southern eastern shores of the
continent of Africa.
The new South Africa has learned from the experiences of
other people the world over. We also hope that South Africa’s experience will
similarly enrich others beyond her shores in the context of inter-dependency and
partnership in our common struggle against racism and racial discrimination.
I am confident that the warm hospitality of the people of
Durban and South Africa will make your stay an eventful and meaningful experience.
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