Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Closes One Hundred and Fourteenth Session, Issues Concluding Observations on the Reports of Armenia, Ecuador, Greece, Kenya, Monaco and Saudi Arabia
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon closed its one hundred and fourteenth session, during which it reviewed the reports of Armenia, Ecuador, Greece, Kenya, Monaco and Saudi Arabia.
Chinsung Chung, Committee Rapporteur, said that the Committee’s concluding observations for the six country reviews conducted during the session were available on the session’s webpage. The Committee thanked the State party delegations that participated in the dialogues; the national human rights institutions of Armenia, Ecuador, Greece and Kenya for submitting written reports to the Committee and those of Kenya and Greece for providing updates during the session; and the various civil society representatives who contributed essential information to the reviews.
At the opening meeting of the session, Ms. Chung reported, Sara Hamood, Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief of the Anti-Racial Discrimination Section of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave a speech highlighting the Committee’s important work and its contributions to promoting and protecting the human rights of all people without discrimination.
Ms. Hamood recalled that 2024 marked the final year of the International Decade for People of African Descent. She highlighted that the report of the Secretary-General to the seventy-ninth session of the General Assembly on the implementation of the International Decade showed how the International Decade contributed to the progressive consolidation of an international agenda for people of African descent, while also recognising the remaining gaps to ensure that all people of African descent could fully and effectively enjoy all their human rights. She also noted that the High Commissioner had called for the proclamation of a Second International Decade, which needed to drive even greater efforts and decisive actions to address long-standing issues, as well as contemporary challenges.
Finally, Ms. Hamood noted that the liquidity crisis had hampered the planning and implementation of the treaty bodies’ work. She said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was calling on all stakeholders to strengthen the treaty body system and ensure that the Committee and the other treaty bodies had the necessary resources to implement their mandates.
During the one hundred and fourteenth session, Ms. Chung said, the Committee adopted lists of issues prior to reporting under the simplified reporting procedure for Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi and Seychelles, and adopted the follow-up report for Portugal.
Under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure, the Committee adopted a Decision on the conflict between Israel and the State of Palestine on 12 December 2024. The Committee considered 21 submissions and, in addition to the Decision, endorsed six letters to States parties assessed under this procedure. The Committee also appointed Ms. Chung as follow-up Rapporteur for the implementation of the recommendations made by the Ad Hoc Conciliation Commission in its report in the case of State of Palestine v. Israel. The Ad Hoc Commission’s report was available on the Committee’s website.
This session, the Committee’s Working Group also continued the examination of one individual communication received under article 14 of the Convention, addressing a set of questions to the authors to establish recent, important facts for the examination of the case.
Further, during the session, Ms. Chung reported, the Committee, together with the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, pursued work towards the elaboration of a joint general recommendation on addressing xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families and other non-citizens affected by racial discrimination. During the intersessional period, global and regional in-person consultations were held in Geneva, Bangkok, Panama, Toronto, Texas and Dakar, and during the session, the two Committees held two joint in-person meetings to discuss the next steps towards adopting the joint general recommendation.
In closing remarks, Michal Balcerzak, Committee Chairperson, said this had been a very productive session. He thanked all those who had contributed to the Committee’s work.
Mr. Balcerzak said that in 2025, the Committee would celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This was a unique chance to strengthen the message of the Convention, take stock of what the Committee had achieved over a long period of time, and generate greater political will and action to fight racial discrimination. The Committee wished to ensure that the Convention’s message of prohibiting racial discrimination resonated throughout the world.
The Chair thanked the Committee Experts, who had all contributed significantly to the Committee’s work throughout the session, and to working towards the Committee’s mandate of the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination wherever it occurred. He also thanked all persons who had contributed to the smooth execution of the Committee’s work.
Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. Other documents related to the session can be found here.
The next session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is scheduled to take place from 22 April to 9 May 2025. In the session, the Committee will review the reports of Gabon, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Republic of Korea and Ukraine.
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CERD24.014E