Racism rife in era of globalization and Internet, UN human rights official says

The United Nations must spearhead a worldwide mobilization of conscience against racial intolerance in a time of globalization when the Internet is being used for both conciliation and divisiveness, a senior United Nations human rights official said today.

"It is the role of the United Nations to bring to the conscience of the international community the pervasive violations of human rights that are taking place in the world and to call for a mobilization of conscience against such gross violations," Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan told the Commission on Human Rights working group against racism.

The working group is meeting in Geneva to follow up on the decisions taken at the anti-racism conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Mr. Ramcharan also called for galvanized efforts to respond to today's atmosphere of fast-paced globalization and turbulence when poverty is rampant, millions of children do not have access to schooling and "the Internet is used to bring people together, but also to spread hatred, prejudice and discrimination."

Promoting and protecting human rights can help to reduce poverty, he said, adding, "Advancing the principle of equality and non-discrimination is of fundamental importance."

In a separate message to the ninth meeting of the Board of Trustees on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, also in Geneva, Mr. Ramcharan called for "new approaches and new strategies" for countering grievous violations of the human rights of hundreds of thousands of children and young women, which range from child labour to sexual exploitation and trafficking.

"Contemporary forms of slavery are among the foremost issues of conscience demanding our attention in today's world and we need to think afresh how we might mobilize international outrage against such practices," he said, voicing hope that the Commission would consider designating a special rapporteur against trafficking in human beings.