Delegates in Fifth Committee Support Secretary-General’s Proposed Steps to End Racism, Racial Discrimination in UN Secretariat, Urge Adequate Resources for Implementation
With a unified sense of purpose, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today rallied around the Secretary-General’s proposal for measures against racism and racial discrimination in the United Nations Secretariat, calling for resource and personnel funding for establishing an anti-racism office and supporting the Special Adviser on Addressing Racism in the Workplace, as well as an immediate end to inequitable geographical representation of staff positions, particularly Professional and higher categories, in the Organization. They also demanded accountability and disciplinary action against such discriminatory acts.
Last year, the United Nations Task Force on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All conducted a survey among UN Secretariat staff which revealed that a substantial percentage of respondents has experienced one form of discrimination or another, largely on account of colour, national origin or cultural background. The survey provided a formidable framework for the fight against racism, having provided comprehensive and reliable data in measuring the impact of the strategic action plan as well as guiding its implementation.
Presenting the Secretary-General’s report on the revised estimates to the proposed 2024 programme budget on the subject, Catherine Pollard, UN Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, highlighted a $1.04 million additional cost implication for the programme budget. This would pay for the conversion of eight temporary positions and the establishment of three new posts and one temporary role. It would also cover other non-staff needs. She called for more resources to enable an effective carrying out of the anti-racism mandate.
Building on the Under-Secretary-General’s presentation, Mojankunyane Gumbi, Special Adviser on Addressing Racism in the Workplace, reminded delegates of UN efforts and successes over the years in overcoming numerous challenges, negotiating peace in conflict situations and burying “the monster of racism in countries such as South Africa”. She said her extensive interactions with personnel and leaders across the Secretariat in the course of her mandate give credence to the presence of racial discrimination in the Secretariat, a situation which has necessitated the implementation of measures by the Anti-Racism Team, including appointing Anti-Racism Advocates, holding anti-racism dialogues and virtual talks in various duty stations, and organizing training programmes against racism. “The work has just begun and much remains to be done,” she noted, calling for Secretariat-wide training for all staff, a thorough review of policies with racial undertones, developing accountability measures for senior leaders and managers, fostering a safe environment for reporting racism cases and providing justice and support to victims of racial discrimination.
Amjad Al-Kumaim, Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), presented that body’s related report. The Advisory Committee expects the Secretary-General to strengthen data acquisition, interpretation, application and cooperation efforts, especially with other UN entities, on eliminating racism and capture lessons learned and best practices from these experiences.
The representative of Oman, speaking for the Gulf Cooperation Council, called for increased cooperation in addressing racism, stressing that “there must be a collective fight against this scourge in order to counter and eliminate it.” He noted the defence of humanity’s common values as critical to addressing discrimination, hatred and extremism and called for resources to be made available in battling these undesirable phenomena.
Cuba’s representative, speaking for the Group of 77 and China, highlighting the findings of the 2022 UN Staff engagement survey where 25 per cent of respondents experienced discrimination in the Organization on different grounds — with 54 per cent displeased with the resolution of their complaints — said the outcome points “to the extent to which this scourge is present within the Organization and the need for immediate redress”. He compared statistics of candidate selection for positions in the Professional and higher categories of nationals of Africa and those of the Western European and Others Group. He drummed up support for the creation of the anti-racism office, adding that his Group will follow discussions on the structure, placement, longer-term resource requirements and proposed posts for the office to ensure it is properly funded and staffed.
Nigeria’s delegate, speaking for the African Group, underscored the importance of accountability and strong disciplinary action for racist conduct. Mirroring his Cuban counterpart, he said it is disheartening that “8,000 staff, that is 22 per cent of the UN staff, have perceptions on the existence of racism in the Organization”. He called on the Organization to redouble its efforts to eliminate the vestiges of racism. The Group also advocates for an independent, committed, adequately financed and fully staffed Office of the Special Adviser.
For the delegate of the Philippines, who spoke on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the issue of racism should be addressed in the work of the Task Force and through extensive interactions of the Special Adviser with staff at Headquarters, unions and relevant groups. The Implementation Steering Group should also include officials from diverse regions of the world to oversee the entire scope of the strategic action plan. He called for applicable Staff Regulations and Rules to be updated to properly capture information on possible duties in relation to other UN agencies as well as scope and reporting lines for the anti-racism office to independently deliver on its mandate.
Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All in UN Secretariat
CATHERINE POLLARD, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the revised estimates to the proposed 2024 programme budget on addressing racism and promoting dignity for all in the United Nations Secretariat (document A/78/384). She said additional resources are needed to effectively implement the anti-racism mandate. Capacity reinforcement is needed in accountability, research and analysis, and administrative support. This will address areas which have been operating without adequate staff or support as well as “developing evidence-based strategies to address racism and assist policy review from an anti-racism perspective”. She said the revised estimates reflect the 2024 requirements to support the establishment of the anti-racism office, with additional resources requested for the Office of Human Resources in the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, and for the Department of Operational Support to not only support the implementation of the strategic action plan but ensure its long-term sustainability.
In addition to resources requested under the 2024 proposed programme budget, $1.04 million (net of staff assessment), including the conversion of eight existing temporary positions, the establishment of three new posts and one new temporary position, and other non-staffing resources, is proposed across the two budget sections, she said.
MOJANKUNYANE GUMBI, Special Adviser on Addressing Racism in the Workplace, said it is easy to forget, when facing a myriad of challenges, the good that the United Nations is capable of. “Despite many setbacks over the years, it is this Organization that firmly set us all on the path to peaceful negotiation of conflict,” she emphasized, adding that it is also the UN that “buried the monster of racism in countries such as South Africa” and in 2022 agreed that racism and racial discrimination have no place in the Secretariat. The revised estimates presented to the Fifth Committee respond to the General Assembly’s decisions in resolution 76/271 and the Committee’s recommendations, she noted, emphasizing that the proposals are aimed at the elimination of racism and racial discrimination and nothing else. The imperative to address racism and racial discrimination has been reinforced by two independent reports produced by the Secretariat in 2023: one on past complaints of racism, and the other on racial bias in recruitment processes, she added.
The presence of racism within the Secretariat has been further confirmed in the Special Adviser’s extensive interactions with UN personnel and leaders across the global Secretariat, she continued, stressing: “Racism and racial discrimination debase our Organization’s most valuable asset — its staff — and hinder the effective delivery of its mandates.” The Anti-Racism Team was established to oversee, coordinate and monitor the implementation of the strategic action plan, and in the past year, has made significant progress through a three-pronged action approach focused on advocacy, transparency and accountability. Anti-Racism Advocates were appointed in most entities across the Secretariat, anti-racism dialogues and virtual talks are being conducted with staff in various duty stations, anti-racism training programmes are being prepared and an extensive communications campaign has been launched. Regarding transparency, data analysis on staff composition is continually conducted to produce a dashboard with up-to-date information available to all staff, and policy review efforts have been initiated. Regarding accountability, the review of ST/SGB/2019/8 is under way, and induction sessions for the judges of the United Nations tribunals are being conducted.
“However, the work has just begun and much remains to be done,” she said, underlining the need to, among others, roll out training for all staff, conduct a thorough review of policies that may lead to racial inequality, develop accountability measures for senior leaders and managers, foster safe environments for reporting cases of racism, and provide justice and support to victims of racial discrimination. This work needs to be done in the context of a Secretariat that needs strengthening on matters of racism and racial discrimination in terms of race theory, research and analysis, policy review and reformulation as well as racial justice and racial equity.
The Secretary-General would establish the anti-racism office to strengthen the work initiated by the Anti-Racism Team, she noted, adding that the office will be guided by the Special Adviser’s strategic and substantive leadership and will also benefit from management oversight and support from the Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance. “The anti-racism office will be committed to, and work towards, promoting the integration of anti-racism principles in all aspects of the Organization and providing substantive leadership and guidance to all anti-racism efforts within the UN Secretariat,” she said.
AMJAD AL-KUMAIM, Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), presented its related report (document A/78/7/Add.16). Noting the Organization’s longstanding efforts to combat racism and racial discrimination and taking into account that this is the focus of the Secretary-General’s report, the ACABQ expects a review of the report’s title to reflect “addressing racism and racial discrimination”. The subsequent report should also clarify aspects related to ethnicity, nationality and colour, among others. In light of the 2021 and 2022 surveys on racism, the ACABQ trusts that these and other data collection tools will continue to be used, further refined, widely populated, expanded and analysed, and in collaboration with UN system entities, “provide more comprehensive and reliable data to continuously measure the impact of the strategic action plan and guide the steps of its implementation, based on accurate and meaningful parameters of racial discrimination”.
The Secretary-General should strengthen such efforts and capture lessons learned and best practices from the experiences in addressing racial discrimination, he said. Regular reports should also be sent to the Assembly, focusing exclusively on efforts to eliminate racism and racial discrimination in the Secretariat and based on a refined action plan, including the ongoing development of a definition of racism, the advocacy and communication strategy, efforts to address potential duplication of existing resources and realizing synergies and efficiencies, coordination and cooperation with the UN entities, progress achieved, lessons learned, and the next steps of implementing the strategic action plan — which the Assembly should request the Secretary-General to refine.
He said before this refined action plan is submitted, together with the review of the office’s structure and longer-term resource requirements, the Secretariat could continue relying on general temporary assistance positions. Therefore, he recommended that the Assembly approve the establishment of an independent office of anti-racism, as an independent and separate office; the conversion of one D-2, director of the office of anti-racism, from a general temporary position to an established post; the establishment of the three proposed new posts in the office; and the continuation of the remaining seven general temporary assistance positions approved by resolution 76/271 for 12 months as well as the establishment of the proposed new general temporary assistance position in the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance. The proposed resources under contractual services and travel should be respectively reduced by $59,500 and $5,000.
RICHARD TUR DE LA CONCEPCIÓN (Cuba), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, expressed grave concern that, based on the 2022 UN staff engagement survey, 25 per cent of respondents experienced discrimination in the Organization, mainly based on national or ethnic origin, race, colour, cultural background and gender. Moreover, 54 per cent of those who indicated that they had experienced racism were dissatisfied with how their complaints were handled. “These findings point to the extent to which this scourge is present within the Organization and the need for immediate redress,” he said, calling for a more geographically balanced staff composition where patterns of exclusion or discrimination are less likely to exist. He further noted that in the Secretary-General´s report, for 2022, 41 per cent of all selected candidates in the Professional and higher categories were nationals of the Western European and Others Group, yet candidates from this Group represented, on average, 28 per cent of applications. In the case of Africa, the trend is the other way around: only 24 per cent of the candidates were selected although its applicants represented 35 per cent of the total.
Noting the Secretary-General’s efforts to root out racism, he voiced full support for the creation of an anti-racism office and its earliest implementation. The main role of the office should be to identify, expose and remedy any practice of racism or racial discrimination in the Organization, including during the process of recruitment, appointments, promotions, staff mobility, roster management and career development opportunities, in close coordination with other relevant departments. His Group will be following the discussions on the structure, placement, longer-term resource requirements and proposed posts for the office to ensure that it will be properly funded and staffed, he said, voicing hope that the Fifth Committee’s conclusion of this agenda item sends a clear message of zero tolerance to racism and racial discrimination.
SAUD AL-SHARJI (Oman), speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council and aligning with the Group of 77 and China, reaffirmed the need for cooperation on addressing all aspects of racism. “There must be a collective fight against this scourge in order to counter and eliminate it,” he said, adding that this fight is part of the Organization’s foundation. The Gulf Cooperation Council welcomes the Secretary-General’s efforts in addressing racism and promoting dignity for all, which is crucial to advancing justice, fairness and freedom within the United Nations. He said the best way to address discrimination, hatred and extremism is to defend common human values which do not distinguish between individuals on the basis of race, religion, culture or nationality. Resources must be made available to combat this negative phenomenon which also manifests through Islamophobia and the targeting of States’ religious symbols. Further, human rights issues should not be divided along various agendas. He underscored the need to promote dialogue between societies to promote peace and reject extremism.
ADAMU IBRAHIM LAMUWA (Nigeria), speaking on behalf of the African Group and associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, voiced support for the Secretary-General’s efforts to transform the United Nations to a workplace where racism is addressed in a comprehensive manner, and where there is accountability and strong disciplinary action for racist conduct. He expressed concern about the outcome of the survey conducted by the Task Force on Addressing Racism and Promoting Dignity for All in the United Nations that “8,000 staff, that is 22 per cent of the UN staff, have perceptions on the existence of racism in the Organization”. With a more comprehensive survey and assessment of the existing system, serious limitations in the system to realizing racial equality could be unearthed, he said. The problem must be taken with the utmost seriousness and requires a solution commensurate with its systemic and longstanding nature. To that end, the Organization must redouble efforts to eliminate the vestiges of racism, he stressed.
He commended the Secretary-General for recognizing that the UN is not immune to the scourge of racism and for embarking on concrete action to identify, prevent and address racism and racial discrimination at the workplace. This challenge must be faced with a multi-pronged approach consisting of knowledge and awareness creation, accountability and suitable policy requirements. To this end, his bloc will advocate for an independent, committed, adequately financed and fully staffed Office of the Special Adviser, he said, adding that it will also pay particular attention to the Secretary-General’s proposals to convert the temporary posts approved last year to Professional posts. In this current session, the African Group looks forward to a more focused discussion to strengthen the capability of the Office to deliver on its mandate pertaining to racism, he said, thanking the Secretary-General for putting forth a proposal focusing on racism as approved by the General Assembly in its resolution 76/271.
ANTONIO MANUEL REVILLA LAGDAMEO (Philippines), speaking on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and aligning himself with the Group of 77 and China, rejected racism and racial discrimination in all its forms and manifestations. ASEAN is committed to uphold the principle of equal rights as spelled out in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He underscored the imperative of addressing the issue in the work of the Task Force and extensive interactions of the Special Adviser on Addressing Racism in the Workplace with staff at Headquarters, staff unions and relevant groups. He hoped the efficient collaboration with pertinent UN entities will yield a cohesive system-wide approach and that the Implementation Steering Group will include officials from diverse regions to oversee the operationalization, execution and mainstreaming of the strategic action plan as well as provide guidance and substantive advice to the proposed anti-racism office.
ASEAN supports an effective governance structure and hopes the Steering Group will provide adequate oversight and ensure coherence and accountability in implementing anti-racism initiatives, he said. It also looks forward to an update on applicable Staff Regulations and Rules, including information on possible work and functions vis-à-vis other UN departments and bodies as well as the scope and reporting lines, in order to ensure the independence of the office and its effective mandate delivery. The Office’s efforts should also be strengthened with adequate resources. He called for external and independent expertise to support these efforts and noted the upgrades made on existing operational training through multilingual and anti-discrimination lenses.
BRIAN CHRISTOPHER MANLEY WALLACE (Jamaica), speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, said his bloc has consistently raised its voice in the fight against racism and racial discrimination given its members’ shared history of slavery, indentureship and colonialism and racial discrimination, which provide relevant insight on the issue. He commended the work of the Anti-Racism Team and Task Force in assessing perceptions of staff about the extent of racism and racial discrimination in the Secretariat and in developing a long-term strategic action plan to address that issue. Voicing concern about several key findings, he said his bloc sees merit in the establishment of a dedicated anti-racism office to lead and coordinate a comprehensive effort to effectively combat racism and racial discrimination in the Secretariat. This office should acquire all required resources to carry out its mandates, including overseeing and coordinating the implementation of the strategic action plan, he added.
Sufficient permanent posts are essential for the office to take the lead in addressing racism and racial discrimination, support racial diversity efforts and promote the integration of anti-racism principles into the Organization’s management and workplace practices, as well as for the long-term success of the strategic action plan, he said. He voiced support for the Secretary-General’s proposal to approve the conversion of eight temporary positions to established posts and for the proposal to approve an additional $1.04 million. He urged the Secretary-General to prioritize full implementation of the UN zero-tolerance approach to racism and all forms of discrimination, noting that his bloc will continue to monitor the developments and progress made by the Secretariat to eradicate racism and will remain ready to assist.
Mr. FIL RASHEED (Saudi Arabia), aligning himself with the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Group of 77 and China, said addressing racism is a fundamental pillar for promoting economic, cultural and social development worldwide. As the Organization which brings together peoples of different races, the UN works to promote equality without discrimination. This is beneficial for everyone as it “will improve the environment, the workplace and have a positive impact on staff morale”, he said, adding: “It will also enable victims of racial discrimination to have opportunities for promotion.” This enhances the Organization’s reputation and enables it to better carry out its mandate. His delegation supports the Secretary-General’s proposals on resources allocated for this purpose. Basing its work on the Islamic sharia, Saudi Arabia has launched initiatives and reforms to assess staff on performance and accomplishments and not on nationality or any other criteria. He called on Member States to reject racism and racial discrimination in the workplace.