Putri Anggraini
The United Nations General Assembly is set to convene a high-level meeting on Monday to mark a quarter-century since the adoption of the Durban Declaration, a sweeping international framework designed to confront racial discrimination and inequality across the globe. The commemoration places one of the world body's most ambitious anti-racism documents back at the center of diplomatic attention, even as debates over its legacy and scope continue.
Adopted in 2001 at the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa, the declaration is not legally binding on member states. Nonetheless, the 153-page text stands as one of the most wide-ranging attempts by the international community to catalogue and condemn the many forms racism, xenophobia, and intolerance take. According to the UN, a political declaration is expected to be adopted during Monday's gathering.
Officially known as the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, or DDPA, the document pressed member states to put in place measures aimed at eliminating a broad spectrum of oppression. These included not only racism but also gender-based discrimination. The conference that produced it marked a significant moment in how the international community reckoned with historical wrongs, formally recognizing that slavery and the slave trade constitute crimes against humanity and linking those atrocities to present-day poverty and disparities.
The declaration went further by identifying apartheid and genocide as both sources and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. It called on participating states to condemn such crimes and to take steps to prevent them from happening again. In the area of migration, the text urged that policies governing the movement of people should not be rooted in racism or intolerance, framing the protection of migrants as a core concern.
The rights of Indigenous peoples also featured prominently in the document, reflecting a broader push at the time to address the historical and ongoing marginalization of native communities worldwide. These provisions helped establish the DDPA as a reference point for subsequent international work on racial justice and the rights of traditionally excluded groups.
Perhaps no section of the declaration has proven more politically charged than its treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Clause 63 expresses concern about what it describes as the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation, and it affirms the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and to establishing an independent state. In the same clause, the text recognizes the right to security for all states in the region, including Israel.
An early draft of the declaration had drawn an equivalence between Zionism and racism, but that language was removed after objections from Israel and its Western allies. Zionism refers to the Jewish nationalist and political movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century with the aim of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The dispute over that language foreshadowed the controversies that would shadow the Durban process for decades.
The question of refugee return proved another flashpoint. Clause 65 of the declaration recognizes the right of refugees to return voluntarily to their homes—a provision that has been contentious because Israel has refused to permit the return of Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the wars of 1948 and 1967. More than 750,000 Palestinians were displaced in the period leading up to the establishment of Israel in 1948, an event Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, or catastrophe.
The vast majority of UN member states adopted the 2001 declaration by consensus at the close of the Durban conference. Two notable exceptions were the United States and Israel, both of which withdrew from the conference and declined to support the declaration, citing its clauses on Israel and Palestine. That split has persisted through subsequent review meetings and remains a defining fault line in international discussions of the DDPA.
Follow-up gatherings sought to keep the framework alive. In April 2009, the Durban Review Conference took place in Geneva to assess how much progress had been made since 2001 and to confront new challenges. Two years later, in 2011, world leaders met again to mark the declaration's 10th anniversary, reaffirming their commitments to the fight against racism. The 20th anniversary likewise produced a political declaration, part of a pattern of periodic stocktaking that has kept the DDPA on the international agenda.
Monday's meeting, organized by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is intended to raise awareness and deepen public understanding of the DDPA. Organizers also hope it will foster dialogue between governments and communities and help identify strategies for mobilizing renewed political will—an acknowledgment that implementation has often lagged behind the declaration's aspirations. The session is meant to offer space to reflect on progress made since 2001 while also confronting both persistent and emerging challenges.
The event will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City and streamed live through UN Web TV in multiple languages. Its theme is "Mobilizing Global Public Support for the Full and Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action," a framing that emphasizes public engagement alongside official diplomacy.
The agenda includes an interactive panel discussion focused on youth leadership. That session is expected to examine how young people from marginalized racial and ethnic groups shape public discourse, drive action against racism, and build support for putting the DDPA into practice. The emphasis on youth reflects a recognition that the fight against discrimination must be carried forward by new generations.
The opening plenary is scheduled to feature statements from Khalilur Rahman, president of the 81st UN General Assembly; UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk; South Africa's head of state or a representative; an NGO representative; and a youth representative. UN member states, observer states, and observers of the General Assembly are expected to participate in the general debate once the opening session concludes.
A draft of the political declaration set to be tabled reaffirms the core messages of the 2001 DDPA, along with the outcome document of the 2009 Durban Review Conference and the political declarations adopted on the 10th and 20th anniversaries. It also states that equality and non-discrimination are fundamental principles of international law.
The draft acknowledges with deep concern the rise of discrimination, systemic racism, and hate speech—a recognition that the problems the Durban Declaration set out to address remain urgent. As delegates gather in New York, the anniversary serves both as a commemoration of a landmark document and as a test of whether its promises can be translated into meaningful action in a world still contending with entrenched inequality.
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