Strengthening International and Intra-National Efforts to Eliminate Racial Discrimination Through the Development of Uniform Measures of the Race and Poverty Intersect

Although the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is designed to remedy the role that racial discrimination plays in denying racial minorities their fundamental human rights, the effectiveness of the Convention has been limited by, among other things, the lack of universal measures of racism to guide the implementation of its mandates. This lack of standards for assessing State's performance in meeting the mandates of ICERD has in turn contributed to a lack of accountability on the part of signatory countries. The United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, presents unprecedented opportunities for the achievement of two goals necessary to establish this much needed accountability: 1) Recognition of the need for uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect and a commitment to their development and implementation; and 2) Development of coordinated strategies around uniform measures to address racism both within the structures of ICERD and in the context of advocating against racism in general.

I. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEVELOPING UNIFORM MEASURES OF THE RACE AND POVERTY INTERSECT, AND IMPROVING COMPLIANCE WITH ICERD?

The race and poverty intersect provides a framework for measuring the impact of racism. From an international human rights perspective, "poverty" is viewed as:

A human condition characterized by the sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other fundamental civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.1

"Racial Discrimination" is defined within the framework of ICERD as:

Any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. 2

When these two normative definitions are merged, they articulate an international lens for evaluating the impact and elimination of racism:

Racial discrimination may cause sustained and chronic poverty; sustained and chronic poverty, which is tolerated, may be attributed to racial discrimination; and sustained and chronic poverty is a deprivation of the comprehensive human right to development.

The three premises of this lens have independent importance for establishing accountability. The first premise suggests that the disparate impoverishment of racial minorities is related to structural processes, and thus that the prospective impact of racism can be eliminated through affirmative action directed at creating new socioeconomic processes free of racism. The second premise suggests that a basis for valuing and quantifying claims of reparations may be determined, and thus, the impact of racism can be made compensable through investments directed at abating past deprivations of the human right to development. Finally, the third premise suggests that liability for the impact of racism may be established.

In seeking to implement this international framework, however, we must first address the following question:

Are there differences among national definitions of "race" and "poverty" that complicate the implementation of an international race and poverty framework, and if so, what strategies should be pursued to resolve these differences to the extent necessary to facilitate implementation of the framework?

II. TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE U.N. PROGRAMME OF ACTION SUFFICIENTLY ADDRESS ACCOUNTABILITY, AND WHAT FURTHER STRATEGIES SHOULD BE PURSUED?

There are two groups of issues within the Programme of Action that are critical to evaluating whether the Programme of Action sufficiently addresses accountability: 1) Data Collection, Disaggregation, Research; and 2) Remedies, Reparations, Compensation. While our immediate focus is on the first of these groups of critical issues, our goal of establishing uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect serves the larger goal of developing strategies to eliminate the impact of racism. To this end, we need to address the following question:

To what extent does the Programme of Action sufficiently address accountability in terms of remedies, reparations, and compensation, as this group of critical issues relates to the utility of uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect? (i.e., Does the Program of Action enable specific affirmative action remedies for disparate impact?)

The Programme of Action addresses the general need to establish uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect by calling upon the signatory countries:

a)

to collect, compile and disseminate data on the situation of groups which are victims of discrimination, providing information on the composition of their population according to race, colour, nationality, nation origin, ethnicity, religion, sex, age, and other factors, as appropriate, for, inter alia, the development and evaluation of policies with respect to human rights, including those that address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The collect of such data should/may take into account the self-definition of these groups;

c)

to institute routine monitoring of racist acts on the local and national level and of the situation of marginalized racial and ethnic groups , [through periodic sampling and compilation of statistical information collected and analysed disaggregated by sex, age, race or ethnic group/ethnicity and national origin, particularly with regard to such fundamental economic and social indicators as infant mortality rate, life expectancy, literacy rate, level of education, access to employment, housing and health services, and average disposable income.] [Special attention should be paid to research into the impact of racial discrimination on the enjoyment of those rights, and to the publication of the conclusions.];

d)

to ensure that institutions responsible for providing statistical information on the population take explicit account of the existence of [indigenous peoples, people of varying descent and other ethnic groups,] obtain data on relevant and appropriate characteristics, designing strategies to evaluate all policies concerning ethnic groups. To that end, it recommends the development of voluntary, consensual and participatory strategies for these communities in the processes of collecting and using information;

e)	to share/exchange experience and successful practices with other States.

(See Draft U.N. Programme of Action Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophbia and Related Intolerance, Proposals made by the Group of 21, Preparatory Committee, Third Session (A/CONF.189/PC.3)).

In responding to the Question, "To what extent does the Programme of Action sufficiently address accountability, and what further strategies should be pursued?", as it specifically relates to the establishment of uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect, we need to address two additional questions:

1.	Does the language of the proposed provisions establish a commitment to develop uniform measures? If not, what strategies should be pursued to achieve this goal?

2.	Does the language of the proposed provisions or that found elsewhere in the Programme of Action, secure financial and technical resources to support statistical capacity building in signatory countries? If not, what strategies should be pursued to achieve this goal?

III. WHAT ARE SOME STRATEGIES FOR CERD, GOVERNMENTS, AND NGOS TO CONSIDER DURING AND AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES TO EFFECTIVELY MONITOR INTERNATIONAL AND INTRA-NATIONAL EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION?

The substantive outcome of WCAR, with respect to the two groups of critical issues that we earlier identified (Data Collection, Disaggregation, Research and Study; and Remedies, Reparations, Compensation), will ultimately influence the shaping of strategies for CERD, governments, and NGOs to consider during and after the implementation of accountability measures. With respect to the immediate interest of establishing uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect, interested parties should be preparing in anticipation of three possible substantive outcomes:

1.

That the critical issues group of Data Collection, Disaggregation, Research and Study, is addressed in some form in the outcome of WCAR, whether providing for uniform measures or individual country measures of the race and poverty intersect, and financial and technical support is secured to address the statistical capacity building issues in signatory countries.

2.

That the critical issues group of Data Collection, Disaggregation, Research and Study, is addressed in some form in the outcome of WCAR, whether providing for uniform measures or individual country measures of the race and poverty intersect, however, financial and technical support are not secured to address the statistical capacity building issues in signatory countries.

3.	That the critical issues group of Data Collection, Disaggregation, Research and Study, is not addressed in some form in the outcome of WCAR, nor are financial and technical support secured to address the statistical capacity of building issues in signatory countries.

Given these potential outcomes, we need to ask ourselves:

What strategies should we be pursuing that maximize the opportunities presented by WCAR?

IV. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE; POST-DURBAN STRATEGIES?

Before we leave Durban we need to answer the question:

How will we maintain and coordinate an international network to pursue the goal of establishing uniform measures of the race and poverty intersect and the related goal of promoting its utility as a strategic tool for the elimination of globalized racism?

Notes:

1. Note prepared by the Secretariat on Definitions of Poverty from a Human Rights Perspective, Seminar on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, held in Geneva on 7-9 February 2001 (HR/GVA/POVERTY/SEM/2001).

2. Article 1(1), INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION