International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The UN General Assembly resolution 2142 (XXI), adopted on 26 October 1966, proclaimed 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to be commemorated annually. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws". Proclaiming the Day in 1966 which signifies the struggle to end the policy of apartheid in South Africa, the General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.
Over the years, UNESCO has celebrated the International Day by organizing events in Headquarters and its field offices, as well as in cooperation with the member cities of the International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities – ICCAR (formerly the International Coalition of Cities against Racism).
The struggle against racial discrimination is a central element of UNESCO's work to build peace in the minds of men and women, through education for tolerance, the rejection of racist stereotypes that may persist in culture or in the media.
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL
"Because difference is a source of richness, of strength. The diversity of humans and human civilizations is what makes the world more beautiful. In the words of Mali’s Amadou Hampâté Bâ, “How boring and monotone a uniform world would be, one where everyone, cut from the same cloth, thought and lived the same way! Without anything to discover within others, how would we enrich ourselves?”"
— Audrey Azoulay Director-General, on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
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