International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

MARCH 21

WORLD FORESTRY DAY also falls on this Day, March 21st

Since 1966, the 21st of March has been recognized by the United Nations as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

UNESCO wishes to mark 21 March,the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in a truly exceptional manner. This will be the second International Day to be celebrated by UNESCO since the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance was held in 2001, in Durban, South Africa. This Conference, which marked the United Nations Third Decade (1993-2003) to combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, lends a second wind to the long and patient fight against the plague of racial discrimination.

Why 21 March?

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was established in 1966, following a tragic event that shocks the conscience: the massacre of young students peacefully protesting against apartheid laws, adopted by the South African government, a brutal regime that applied the theory of inequality between races, regardless of humanity’s moral and ethical advances. Proclaiming the International Day, the United Nations General Assembly called upon the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination

Forty-six years ago, on 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, who were peacefully demonstrating against apartheid’s “pass laws.” The United Nations General Assembly subsequently declared that day –- 21 March -- the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (resolution 2142 (XXI). The Assembly called on the international community not only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat racism and racial discrimination wherever they exist.

Canada was one of the first countries to support the UN declaration and, in 1989, the Department of Canadian Heritage launched its annual March 21 Campaign.

Youth are the heart and soul of the annual March 21 Campaign. They have the energy, commitment and creativity to advance the struggle against racism. They are the voice of the present and the future. They are among the most exposed to racism in their schools and on the streets. In villages, towns and cities across the Globe, the March 21 Campaign engages youth to transcend the boundaries of race, ethnicity and religion and to embrace diversity.

WORLD FORESTRY DAY also falls on this Day, March 21st