Mr. Chairman, It is my privilege to speak to the Third Committee under the agenda item on 'Racism and racial discrimination' and 'Self-determination'. I would like to thank the Secretary General and the Special Rapporteurs for their highly topical reports. Institutionalized, state-sanctioned forms of racism have rightly commanded the highest priority under the agenda item on racism until recently, even though it has all along been known that racism is a far deeper social and psychological phenomenon that cannot simply end with the dissolution of racist laws and structures. With the dismantling of apartheid, we see traditional and new forms of racism in various parts of the world manifested in 'scientific' theories of racial inequality, restrictive or discriminatory immigration policies based on racial or ethnic considerations, electoral gains by political parties openly espousing racist ideologies, and racially motivated atrocities committed by police forces and even UN peace keeping troops.
Racial inequalities are widely evident in social and economic indicators and patterns.
It was apt, therefore, that the General Assembly took a decision last year to convene a world conference on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance not later than 2001. That conference must convey a strong political message from the United Nations, that the organization opposes all forms of racist discrimination and intolerance, in keeping with the priority it attaches to all human rights. Preparation will be central to the success of the Conference. Firstly, racism has assumed subtler forms. With the formal demise of apartheid in South Africa, and legal reforms elsewhere, racism is no longer as visible as before.