World conference against racism

Report: 7
Date: 5 July 2001
By: Clerk

Summary

The World Conference Against Racism will be held in South Africa later this year. It aims at international, national and sub national levels to improve, in a variety of ways, the manner in which racism is tackled. The Conference will point the way ahead for the development of policies that will affect approaches to policing in London and as such may be relevant to the role of the MPA, especially in relation to consultation, diversity, outreach and the investigation of race hate crime.

A. Recommendation

That the members consider whether to sponsor the Chair and Vice Chair(s) of the CDO Committee are sponsored to attend the World Conference against Racism either as part of the UK delegation or to represent the MPA directly.

B. Supporting information

1. The World Conference Against Racism will be held in Durban, South Africa between 31 August and 7 September 2001. Its objectives are:

• to review progress made against racial discrimination, to reappraise obstacles to further progress and to devise ways to overcome them;
• to consider ways and means to better ensure the application of existing standards and the implementation of existing instruments to combat racial discrimination;
• to increase the level of awareness about the scourges of racism and its consequences;
• to formulate concrete recommendations on ways to increase the effectiveness of United Nations activities and mechanisms through programmes aimed at combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
• to review the political, historical, economic, social, cultural and other factors leading to racism;
• to formulate concrete recommendations to further action-oriented national, regional and international measures to combat all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance; and
• to draw up concrete recommendations for ensuring that the United Nations has the financial and other necessary resources for its actions to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The Preparatory Committee decided to adopt the following themes to be included in the provisional agenda for the World Conference:

• sources, causes, forms and contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
• victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
• measures of prevention, education and protection aimed at the eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the national, regional and international levels;
• provision of effective remedies, recourse, redress, compensatory and other measures at the national, regional and international levels;
• strategies to achieve full and effective equality, including international co-operation and enhancement of the United Nations and other international mechanisms in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and follow-up.

2. Although primarily driven by the United Nations, non-governmental organisations have played a full part in the debate over the priority issues for the Conference. Although the initial discussion pre-dated the formation of the MPA, their conclusions are nonetheless relevant to the work of the Authority. The NGO resource group elaborated on cross-cutting themes including:

• racial, ethnic and national minorities, in particular Roma/Gypsies;
• refugees, non-citizens and undocumented persons;
• groups who run the risk of being subjected to double discrimination, such as women, disabled persons, gays/lesbians.

3. Clearly the Conference is a major event that will help shape and inform future policy and practice in this area. Many of the predominating issues will influence if not directly impact on the policing of London especially in relation to consultation, diversity and outreach. It will also be of direct relevance to an emerging MPA initiative on the investigation of race hate crime. For this reason the CDO Committee should be aware of best practice and the direction MPS policy should take in this aspect of their work.

4. The Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office are still undecided as to whether it is appropriate to send an official. It has been proposed that the Chair and Vice Chair(s) of the CDO Committee could form part of any official delegation. Should the MPA not form part any such delegation it could of course still be represented in its own right.

C. Financial implications

Whether attendance is as part of the UK delegation or otherwise, the MPA will be responsible for funding, which is anticipated at £1500 per delegate. Authority for this expenditure is outside the Clerk's remit under the Delegation Scheme. The last meeting of the Co-ordination and Urgency Committee resolved that attendance at any conference costing in excess of £500 per person requires the approval of this Committee. Appendix 1 is the criteria and approval process agreed at the last meeting.

D. Background papers

• Explanatory Note for European Conference Against Racism

E. Contact details

The author of this report is Keith Dickinson.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1: Conferences

Criteria

In assessing whether it is appropriate for a member to attend a conference, the following criteria should be taken into account. Any conference must satisfy the first point:

1. is the conference on a subject or issue that is directly relevant to the MPA's roles and responsibilities?
2. will the conference help keep those attending up to date with current developments, best practice etc?
3. is the conference specifically relevant to the role of a particular MPA committee or the lead responsibility of a particular member? This will help determine which member(s) will gain maximum benefit from a conference.
4. will attendance and participation at the conference help promote the MPA to a relevant audience?
5. are there other conferences etc on the same subject which would be more relevant?
6. is there any experience/feedback from previous conferences of the organisation running it and, if so, is this positive?

Approval process

1. if the total cost of the conference (per delegate), including travel and accommodation expenses (but excluding members' allowances) is less than £500 the Clerk (or the Treasurer in her absence) is authorised to make a decision under delegated authority. Where more than one member wishes to attend, this threshold is a total cost of £1,500;
2. where the total cost of attendance per delegate exceeds £500 a report will be made to the Co-ordination & Urgency Committee or the full Authority for decision.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback