March 21: Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

“Racial discrimination denies its victims the most fundamental of all human rights – the right to equality,” she noted in her message for the Day.

“Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are insidious, corrosive and sometimes explosive forces that devastate the lives of many individuals and, if left to fester, can undermine societies as a whole. They present a threat to security and often feature among the root causes of violent conflict.

“Taken to an extreme, unchecked – or deliberately fuelled – racial discrimination and intolerance can lead to ethnic cleansing and genocide,” she added.

“Displays of intolerance abound, from small gestures in interpersonal relations to large-scale violence targeting people of different skin colour or ethnicity. In particular in times of a global financial crisis, intolerance tends to become even more pronounced, fostering racial, ethnic and xenophobic tensions.”