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NEWS - UNHCR Mary Robinson on Human



Subject: NEWS - UNHCR Mary Robinson on Human Rights Day 1999

09 December 1999 

     Text: UNHCR Mary Robinson on Human Rights Day 1999 

     (Great strides made in human rights over the past 50 years) (740)

     Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
said
     there have been great strides made over the past 50 years in
setting
     comprehensive human rights norms and standards.

     "But we must be honest and recognize how far performance lags
behind
     the goal of human rights for all," Robinson said in a December 8
     message that is to be delivered on December 10 in observance of
Human
     Rights Day 1999.

     "Each of us can play a role in fighting racism and xenophobia, in
     places of learning, in the workplace, in our village, in our town,"
     Robinson said. "In so doing, we will pay the greatest honor we can
to
     the drafters of the Universal Declaration when they proclaimed that
     all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights."

     The world Conference against Racism will take place in South Africa
in
     2001. The first Preparatory Conference will be held in Geneva in
May
     2000. Regional conferences will take place throughout the world
over
     the coming year.

     Following is the United Nations text:

     (begin text)

     8 December 1999

     UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
     HAILS LAST HUMAN RIGHTS DAY OF MILLENNIUM

     Following is the text of a message from Mary Robinson, UNHCR, to be
     delivered on 10 December in observance of Human Rights Day 1999:

     This last Human Rights Day of the century has a special resonance.
We
     can draw encouragement from the great strides made over the past 50
     years in setting comprehensive human rights norms and standards.
But
     we must be honest and recognize how far performance lags behind the
     goal of human rights for all. Who could be optimistic in the wake
of
     one of humanity's bloodiest centuries? Or in the knowledge that,
     despite the vow that genocide would never be repeated, it has
     disfigured the world more than once in the past decade?

     Yet, I believe that we should face the new century in a spirit of
hope
     and determination. Hope based on the fact that important battles
have
     been won -- for example, the defeat of apartheid. Determination in
     that human rights are now centre stage, and there may never be as
good
     an opportunity to really implement all human rights in practice --
     economic, social and cultural as well as civil and political. A
major
     challenge in the face of different perceptions of globalization
will
     be to find common grounds in promoting the right to development.

     Racism, racial discrimination, intolerance and xenophobia are at
the
     forefront of my thoughts this year as the preparations get underway
     for the world Conference against Racism which will take place in
South
     Africa in 2001. Next May the first Preparatory Conference will be
held
     in Geneva. Regional conferences will take place throughout the
world
     over the coming year.

     Racism and xenophobia are powerful causes of conflict; in fact, if
you
     look closely at the roots of history's most violent confrontations,
     you will see their malign influence at work. And they are found
     everywhere. No society is free from at least some people who are
     intolerant of difference, whether ethnic or religious, and whose
     intolerance finds violent expression. The vital importance of the
     World Conference against Racism lies in its potential to shape a
new
     vision of the fight against racism for the twenty-first century. It
     will be my aim, as Secretary General of the Conference, to ensure
that
     new, practical strategies are identified to combat racism and
     xenophobia more effectively.

     I shall look in particular to women leaders and to young people to
     take initiatives in their national and local communities which help
us
     to shape a global community committed to the cause of human rights
for
     all, irrespective of race, gender or creed. It is fitting that the
     World Conference will take place in South Africa where Nelson
Mandela
     has set such an example of forgiveness over hatred, reconciliation
     over revenge.

     Each of us can play a role in fighting racism and xenophobia, in
     places of learning, in the workplace, in our village, in our town.
In
     so doing, we will pay the greatest honour we can to the drafters of
     the Universal Declaration when they proclaimed that all human
beings
     are born equal in dignity and rights.

     (end text)