The United Nations calls on the international community to prevent racism

Chairman of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, Mr. Mihir Kanade (center). (Source: Twitter)

A group of United Nations experts on September 16 presented a thematic report highlighting the negative impacts of racism on the right to development, calling on the international community to prevent this problem in all forms and fight against inequality.

The Chairman of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, Mr. Mihir Kanade, presented the above report to the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (Switzerland).

Experts hope the report will help address racism and the obstacles it poses to socio-economic development around the world, he said.

Mr. Kanade explained that racism is one of the biggest obstacles to realizing the right to development.

Meanwhile, racial inequality has not received the same attention as other forms of inequality outlined in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

According to studies outlined in the report, in the UK, African women and men are 4.3 and 4.2 times more likely to die from COVID-19, respectively, than white people.

Meanwhile, data from the US shows that the COVID-19 death rate among African Americans is more than twice as high as that of other racial groups in the country. African Americans in the US have a significantly lower life expectancy than whites.

In Australia and Canada, indigenous peoples also have significantly shorter life expectancies than other ethnic groups.

Similarly, reports show that Roma across Europe have an average life expectancy of 5 to 20 years less, and infant mortality rates among this ethnic group are 2 to 3 times higher than the general population.

As societies become increasingly multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural, there is a need to invest more in inclusiveness and cohesion to harness the benefits of diversity for all humanity rather than seeing it as a threat, the report says.

Mr. Kanade reiterated his call for the international community to reaffirm its commitment to universal human rights and shared values ​​to protect the equality and dignity of all within and beyond the framework of the right to development.

According to VNA