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Contemporary forms of racism, xenophobia and intolerance - Press Conference (30 October 2019)

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Special Rapporteur on racism E.Tendayi Achiume said, on reparations for racial discrimination rooted in colonialism and slavery, there has to be actions on national level, but also has to be a "global coordination.”
Speaking to reporters in New York today (30 Oct), Achiume said, “slavery and colonialism were global projects and so remediating the harms that resulted from them will require global solutions as well. But as we know, life is lived at a national and local, and so even at those levels there have to be measures taken.”
The Special Rapporteur added, “I think an important way forward is there to be more work done to de-exceptionalize reparations for racial discrimination rooted in colonialism and slavery.”
She explained, “I mean by this is oftentimes when conversations around reparations occur, they occur though either reparations that have never happened in general or reparations for colonialism and slavery themselves have never happened. And that is just false. Reparations are a remedy that is provided in public and international law for violations of international law as a matter of cause. And so part of the work I think is de-mystify, or de-exceptionlizing that the idea that reparations are a thing should happen when there are violations that have taken place.”
Reiterating that “education is one of the single most important things that is urgent as we think about how we move towards reparations or a world where reparations could become a reality for the many who did not have them,” Achiume said, “I don’t just mean education about the history about slavery and colonialism, I mean also education about the contemporary legacy of slavery and colonialism, and education around how nations, states today including the most prosperous are that way because of the continuing benefits of colonialism and slavery, and so helping people understand that the very world they are living in today is the way that it is, is because of the past of injustice and their continuous benefit from the past injustice also implicates them finding solutions, I think it’s really really important.”
Special Rapporteurs are part of the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and work on a voluntary basis. They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
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