World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1978)

(excerpts)

Programme of Action

A. Measures at the national level

1. The Conference calls upon all Governments, to the extent that they have not already done so, to ensure that legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures are adopted to prohibit in their respective countries any manifestations of racism and racial discrimination, regardless of whether or not discriminatory practices prevail. Action taken at the national level should include:

(i) Wider and stricter national legislation to implement all United Nations sponsored instruments and conventions;

(ii) The elimination of all discriminatory laws, prejudices and practices based on race, descent, colour, national and ethnic origin and in particular on property qualifications and literacy and language requirements in the exercise of political, economic, social and cultural rights;

(iii) The creation of adequate domestic recourse procedures of a judicial and/or administrative character which could be effectively resorted to by individuals complaining of racism or racial discrimination;

(iv) The encouragement through national legislation of the use, by national courts and institutions, of instruments of the United Nations and specialized agencies related to racism and racial discrimination, especially as the principle of non-discrimination has become an imperative norm of international law;

(v) The adoption of strict legislation to declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred and to prohibit organizations based on racial prejudice and hatred, including private clubs and institutions established on the basis of racial criteria or propagating ideas of racial discrimination and apartheid, as provided for in article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

(vi) The adoption, with due regard to the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of legal and other measures against any dissemination of information or ideas of racial or ethnic superiority or national hatred through published material or by mass media and aimed at other racial or ethnic groups, as well as at other nations, especially by taking all the necessary measures against the operation of propaganda organizations of the racist regimes and of private organizations which advocate them;

(vii) The publication and wide distribution of the resolutions and decisions of United Nations organs concerning racism, racial discrimination, apartheid and decolonization and of the results, conclusions and recommendations of conferences and seminars dealing with those policies and practices;

(viii) The taking of all necessary measures by all States, all their national sports organizations and individuals within their jurisdiction to prohibit racial discrimination in sports and to disallow any sports contacts with the racist regimes of southern Africa or with racially selected teams and individuals from the racist regimes of southern Africa and to promote sports activities with no trace of racial distinction whatsoever;

(ix) The prohibition of any kind of racial discrimination in laws, administrative and other measures regulating immigration;

(x) The initiation of and support for campaigns aimed at mobilizing national public opinion against the evils of racism, racial discrimination and apartheid, through adequate programmes in the mass media, publishing activities, research seminars and media coverage and therein seeking the cooperation of students and youth organizations, trade unions, employers' organizations, farmers, and religious and professional organizations;

(xi) Ratification of or accession to, as soon as possible, the international instruments adopted under the aegis of the United Nations and specialized agencies, such as the Convention or the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1973), the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (1958; of the International Labour Organisation and the Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;

(xii) Consideration of the possibility of making the declaration envisaged in article 14, paragraph 1, of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, by which a State party to the Convention recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals within its jurisdiction claiming to be victims of violations by the State party of any of the rights set forth In the Convention;

(xiii) Compliance with the reporting requirements called for by the United Nations or by the relevant conventions and, whenever applicable, the inclusion in their reports of the problems encountered by States in ratifying these conventions, with a view to soliciting appropriate legal and/or technical assistance from the advisory services programme in the field of human rights to counter and resolve such problems.

2. The Conference recognizes that action against racism would be more effective if it were combined with determined efforts in the field of education at all levels. The Conference therefore urges Governments to design school curricula and other educational programmes exposing the myths and fallacies of all theories, philosophies, ideas, attitudes and practices based on differences of race, colour, descent, ethnic or national origin. The Conference also urges States to provide adequate opportunities in schools and institutions of higher learning for the study of United Nations measures to combat racism.

3. The Conference urges States also to disseminate educational material against racism through institutions other than formal educational institutions; for example, youth movements, women's organizations, trade unions, art and drama societies, etc. To this end, the Conference urges States to choose procedures of instruction that are appropriate to their respective countries. Consideration should also be given to ways and means through which communication media and non-governmental organizations may be encouraged to propagate the goals and objectives of the

Programme for the Decade.

4. The Conference calls on all States which have not yet done so:

(a) To take effective legislative and other measures, including those in the field of penal law, to prevent the recruitment, training and other activities of mercenaries for assistance to the racist regimes in southern Africa and to punish such mercenaries as common criminals;

(b) To refrain from any relations with the authorities in the bantustans established by the apartheid regime and to prevent any collaboration by corporations within their jurisdiction with those authorities;

(c) To prevent transnational corporations and other vested interests from collaborating with the racist regimes in southern Africa.

5. The Conference, considering that the inhuman policies of apartheid and similar policies of forced racial segregation and systematic discrimination are practised by an oppressive minority group against the overwhelming majority in southern Africa, once again calls upon all States to take immediate and effective measures to put an end to such policies and practices.

6. The Conference urges all States to abolish and prohibit any discrimination among their citizens on the ground of their ethnic or national origin and to protect and promote the human rights of persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities, in accordance with the International Covenants on Human Rights and in particular article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as relevant articles of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other international instruments.

7. The Conference also recommends that States adopt specific measures in the economic, social, educational and cultural fields and in the matter of civil and political rights, in order that all persons may enjoy legal and factual equality and that discrimination between majorities and minorities may be eliminated. Such specific measures should include appropriate assistance to persons belonging to minority groups, to enable them to develop their own culture and to facilitate their full development, in particular in the fields of education, culture and employment.

8. The Conference urges States to recognize the following rights of indigenous peoples:

(a) To call themselves by their proper name and to express freely their ethnic, cultural and other characteristics;

(b) To have an official status and to form their own representative organizations;

(c) To carry on within their areas of settlement their traditional structure of economy arid way of life; this should in no way affect their right to participate freely on an equal basis in the economic, social and political development of the country;

(d) To maintain and use their own language, wherever possible, for administration and education;

(e) To receive education and information in their own language, with due regard to their needs as expressed by themselves, and to disseminate information regarding their needs and problems.

9. Funds should be made available by the authorities for investments, the uses of which are to be determined with the participation, of the indigenous peoples themselves, in the economic life of the areas concerned, as well as in all spheres of cultural activity.

10. The Conference urges States to allow indigenous peoples within their territories to develop cultural and social links with their own kith and kin everywhere, with strict respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence and non-interference in the internal affairs of those countries in which the indigenous peoples live.

11. The Conference further urges States to facilitate and support the establishment of representative international organizations for indigenous peoples, through which they can share experiences and promote common interests.

12. States receiving migrant workers should eliminate all discriminatory practices against such workers and their families by giving them treatment no less favourable than that accorded to their own nationals. This should include, inter alia, such fields as vocational training, the types of posts which migrants may occupy, the type of contracts accorded to migrant workers, the right to reside in any part of the country, regulations governing working conditions, trade union activity and access to judicial and administrative tribunals to air grievances concerning discrimination.

13. The Conference also recommends that States:

(i) Ensure that migrant workers are given the opportunity to assemble and to establish organizations, as well as be given assistance to facilitate communication in their own languages, so as to enable them to articulate their views and promote their specific interests;

(ii) Consider the extension of the franchise in local elections, or any other forms of participation in public life, to migrants already resident in the country for a reasonable period;

(iii) Recognize that the right of family reunion is a fundamental right;

(iv) Encourage the solution of housing problems in order to ensure that family reunion may proceed in a harmonious manner;

(v) Undertake the full assessment of the condition of the children of migrant workers, including those of the second generation, with the aim of ensuring for them real equality of treatment in all fields, including professional life, by taking into consideration the adoption of special measures in the field of education;

(vi) Ensure for migrant workers equality of treatment in the field of social security, including the right to a retirement pension and similar social rights;

(vii) Take effective measures in the field of health care, and in particular, remedy the under-utilization by migrant workers of social and health services by making them fully aware of their rights and helping them to overcome linguistic barriers;

(viii) Take all necessary measures, in particular by using the information media to the fullest possible extent, in order to bring about increased awareness of public opinion in host countries of the contribution of migrant workers to the economic growth and the socio-cultural development of these countries and also to stimulate an atmosphere of mutual understanding;

(ix) Promote the creation of administrative structures making possible a greater awareness and better understanding of the problems of migrant workers, which is likely to facilitate solutions to these problems;

(x) Ratify or accede to the international instruments, in particular the relevant conventions of the International Labour Organisation, aimed at protecting migrants from discrimination, and consider the possibility of adopting an international convention on the rights of migrant workers;

(xi) Pay special attention to the gross inhumanity of the migrant labour system as practised in South Africa, which is a further manifestation of apartheid, and in this regard bear in mind the conclusions of the Conference on Migratory Labour in southern Africa, held at Lusaka in April 1978;

(xii) Adopt in the field of education special measures in favour of the children of migrant workers;

(xiii) Permit children of migrant workers, as well as their parents, to benefit from all the opportunities which are needed in the field of education in order to ensure their full participation in the life of society in the host country and give them also all the opportunities to preserve their cultural identity.

14. The Conference calls on States to eliminate, through legislation and administrative measures, all discriminatory practices against members of migrant communities. They should ensure that immigrants and their families are given treatment which is no less favourable than that accorded to nationals of the host country in matters such as education, employment, the acquisition of property, health and housing facilities, travel within and outside the country, etc. To this end, the Conference urges all States to review the totality of their legal and administrative provisions relating to immigration and to members of immigrant communities, in order to make sure that all measures and practices that are discriminatory have a discriminatory effect are totally eliminated. In particular, the Conference urges States:

(i) To ensure that immigrants enjoy the right to assemble and to form their own organizations for the promotion of their specific interests;

(ii) To recognize the right to family reunion as a fundamental right;

(iii) To ensure that immigrants enjoy the right to social security, retirement pensions and similar social rights;

(iv) To take appropriate measures to bring about greater awareness among the people of the host country of the contribution of immigrant communities to the social, economic and cultural development of the country concerned;

(v) To consider the possibility of an international convention on the rights of immigrants.