Media Center

Press Release

COMBATING DISCRIMINATION IS “A MORAL OBLIGATION”:
OAS ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL RAMDIN

“When we tackle discrimination, we also eliminate the fuel which feeds social exclusion, poverty, violence and inequality,” the Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, told experts at a seminar on combating discrimination.

Racism and discrimination affect access to education, health care, employment, equal wages, housing, justice and effective participation in public life, Ambassador Ramdin said as he addressed the two-day seminar on “Regional Standards and Mechanisms to Combat Discrimination and to Protect the Rights of Minorities,” which concluded at OAS headquarters today.

Gay McDougall, United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at The American University’s Washington College of Law, chaired the seminar, and Washington College of Law Dean Claudio Grossman delivered opening remarks. Other participants included Brazil’s Ambassador Osmar Chohfi, Chair of the OAS Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs; Maria Cristina Pereira Da Silva, Chair of the OAS Working Group on the Draft Inter-American Convention against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance; Doudou Diene, UN Special Rapporteur on Racism, as well as representatives of member state and civil society organizations.

In his address, the OAS Assistant Secretary General stressed that “we need to realize that there is a moral obligation to not only discuss equality, social exclusion and injustice and ultimately eradicate discrimination, but that from a political, economic and security perspective it is in the interest of all in society to tackle this problem.” Ramdin told the participants that, beyond establishing standards to protect all ethnic groups and minorities, public policies must “draw attention to and correct the unfair conditions under which many people live—to fight prejudice and stereotypes and promote understanding and respect.”

Reaffirming the member states’ commitment to fight racism and discrimination in the Americas, Ambassador Ramdin described the Inter-American Convention being drafted at the OAS as “a sine qua non” that will contribute to building political will. He further urged a holistic approach and a candid, in-depth analysis of the structural and institutional foundations and biases, in order for member states to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in relation to cutting the region's poverty rate in half by 2015.

The UN’s McDougall, meanwhile, said the international experts at the seminar shared best practices on how different mechanisms have worked in other parts of the world. “This information is very vital at this point because of the efforts underway within the OAS to draft and adopt an inter-American convention against racial discrimination and intolerance,” she added. McDougall praised the OAS region’s leadership on moving forward with action in the aftermath of the landmark 2001 Durban world conference against racism.


She also underscored the need for regions to establish their own mechanisms to help states comply with international standards against discrimination and help them manage their diversity “in a way that gives welcome and support to distinct identity groups in their societies.”

Reference: E-027/07