GA3:

Racial tensions are on the rise and hitting center stage once again. Across the globe there are incidents that are racially motivated coming across our news screens. Mistreated refugees globally, rising tensions of xenophobia in South Africa and racially charged police brutality in the United States are just a few examples. These problems in turn have had negative effects on fundamental human rights such as healthcare. There is a discrepancy in resource allocation, access to basic medical needs such as physicals and limited cultural competency and tolerance from healthcare providers. The COVID-19 pandemic has not been the kindest in trying to remedy these rising tensions.

The United States has taken strides in support of marginalized populations domestically and globally by supporting organizations that seek to empower racial and ethnic minority communities. They have also strongly condemned Anti-Asian hate and encourage other States to not withhold opposition to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolernace in fear of scrutiny over past behaviors. Something the body can do to help promote its strong stance on eliminating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and relatered intolerance would be for all Member States to adopt the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This would send a strong message to the International Community. Similarly, South Africa has a National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. South Africa believes xenophobic ideologies to mostly be entrenched in individual identites, but that govenments still have an obligation to protect all citizens and the best approach would be to change behaviors through education.

These are strong starting points for establishing and improving programs that address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, but there are still many challenges this Committee will need to address. One of them is that many of the topics that are discussed within the context of these issues remain highly controversial. An example would be the relationship between racism and police violence. The Committee should be encouraged to put aside political agendas in order to fully address this troubling topic. Marginalized groups have suffered from previous treatment of this topic through the foundational documents and these groups continue to suffer from racism and intolerance. Consensus-building will be key in progressing solutions on this topic.