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300 Parliamentarians at WCAR Pledge to Combat Racism
Some 300 parliamentarians from over 50 countries have unanimously adopted a declaration, expressing their commitment to combating racism.
The declaration was announced Monday in Durban after a two-day meeting, which was opened on Sunday and organized by the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the South African National Assembly on the occasion of the ongoing World Conference Against Racism ( WCAR).
The declaration, which recognizes the particular role and responsibility that parliaments have in the fight against racism, also acknowledges that parliamentarians have a personal responsibility to use their influence on public opinion to promote the values of diversity and tolerance.
Frene Ginwala, who is speaker of the South African National Assembly and has been assigned to present the declaration to the plenary of the WCAR on Tuesday, underlined that "as elected representatives, individually and collectively, parliamentarians are both the product and custodians of the democratic values, processes and systems in our countries and must set the national tone for tolerance and to support new ambitious initiatives in this field in the international arena".
"The world will be watching with great interest to see if we indeed take concrete action and follow up on our declaration. We therefore can not fail," she said.
Meanwhile, Anders B. Johnson, secretary-general of the IPU, stressed: "Parliamentarians have a key role to play in supervising government action, enacting appropriate legislation where needed and deciding on the allocation of the national budget."
"Moreover, parliaments are key actors in elaborating plans for action," Johnson noted.
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