EU Statement – UN High-Level Meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

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Mr President,

Let me begin by expressing our thanks to Brunei Darussalam and Zimbabwe for facilitating the process bringing us here today. They have done so with even-handedness in a contested context, and we wish to place on record our appreciation for their work.

The need to eliminate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance is among the most serious challenges in the contemporary world. This is something on which all Member States of the United Nations should be able to agree and pull together. The EU reaffirms its commitment, as evidenced by the EU’s Anti-Racism Action Plan.

Colleagues,

After 25 years of efforts, including previous High-Level Meetings in 2011 and 2021, there is much still to do. Too many people still face racism and discrimination in their daily lives. This must change.

For the European Union, addressing this scourge is a foundational priority, because we were founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, which must be guaranteed to all, without discrimination of any kind.

And this is why the EU has progressively built a comprehensive legal and policy framework to combat racism and related forms of hatred and discrimination. The latest expression of this is the EU Anti-Racism Strategy 2026-2030, developed in partnership with civil society.

The EU is unwaveringly focused on advancing the multilateral anti-racism agenda. This work goes hand in hand with our fight against antisemitism, anti-Muslim and anti-Christian hatred, and all other forms of discrimination.

I declare to you today that we remain firmly committed to the primary objectives and commitments undertaken at the 2001 Durban World Conference – to combat and eradicate all manifestations of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance.

And we have also engaged constructively on related workstreams, such as the Second International Decade for People of African Descent. I take this opportunity to thank Mozambique for its role as facilitator of consultations on the Programme of Activities.

Colleagues,

We will not succeed unless our efforts remain firmly anchored in international human rights law. So, in closing, we reiterate the importance of universal ratification and effective implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – the universal foundation for a concerted approach to preventing and eradicating racism.

Thank you.