“General Assembly adopts Declaration, Programme of Action of Durban World Conference Against Racism

27 March 2002, Press Release GA/10012
Fifty-sixth General Assembly Plenary, 97th Meeting (PM)

“Following recorded vote, General Assembly adopts Declaration, Programme of Action of Durban World Conference Against Racism

Also Adopts 18 Texts on Administrative, Budgetary Matters, Including Two Texts Limiting Cutbacks on Internet Services for Permanent Missions

Convinced that the results of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance — held in Durban, South Africa from 31 August to 8 September 2001 — must be fully implemented without delay, the General Assembly this afternoon endorsed the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by that Conference as a solid foundation for further action and initiatives towards the total eradication of racism and racial discrimination.

On the recommendations of its Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the Assembly adopted a total of four resolutions on matters related to the elimination of racial discrimination, including texts on measures to combat contemporary forms of racism, and on measures to be taken against political platforms based on doctrines of superiority and violent nationalist ideologies.

The Assembly also reiterated its call to all governments, United Nations agencies and the wider international community to contribute to the effective implementation of the Programme of Action for the United Nations Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, which began in 1993.

The Assembly’s work today marked the conclusion of what had been described by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson as a “difficult process”. […]

This afternoon, by adopting a text on follow-up to Durban, the Assembly expressed its satisfaction with the outcome of the Conference […].

[…]

The draft resolution on the comprehensive implementation of the Durban Conference was adopted by a vote of 134 to 2 against (Israel, United States), with 2 abstentions (Australia, Canada) [For a detailed list see Annex below; ed.]. […]. Three other Third Committee drafts were adopted without a vote.

[Statements of the USA and Canada; ed.]

Speaking in explanation of position before the vote, the representative of the United States said that having withdrawn from the World Conference against Racism, his country was not part of the agreement to adopt the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

The Conference had placed an unacceptable focus on a single country-specific situation [Israel / Palestine; ed.] that was, and remained, totally irrelevant to the subject matter. Particularly now, when it was critically important to reduce the violence in the Middle East and guide the conflicting parties back to the negotiating table, the international community should not assess disproportionate blame on any one side in the dispute.

He added that as the United States had not agreed to the establishment of either an anti-discrimination unit in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, or a body of five eminent persons to monitor the implementation of the Durban documents, it also continued to object to the Third Committee’s approval of those mechanisms in the text and to the Fifth Committee’s approval of regular budget funding for them.

Also speaking in explanation of vote before the vote, Canada’s representative said that his country disassociated itself from all negative references to the State of Israel and from any process or language that did not promote a negotiated Middle East peace. Although Canada remained fully committed to the fight against racism, it continued to have serious concerns about the Durban process and the outcome documents.

[…]

Action on Draft Resolutions

Elimination of Racism and Racial Discrimination

The Assembly first took up four draft resolutions in the report of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) (document A/56/581). It also considered the report of the Fifth Committee on the programme budget implications of one of the draft texts (document A/56/883). The draft resolutions were:

Draft I — Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination;

Draft II — Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance;

Draft III — Measures to combat contemporary forms of racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;

Draft IV — Measures to be taken against political platforms and activities based on doctrines of superiority and violent nationalist ideologies, which are based on racial discrimination or ethnic exclusiveness and xenophobia, including neo-Nazism.

[…]

The Assembly then adopted draft resolution I, as orally corrected, without a vote.

Turning to draft resolution II, the Assembly’s Acting President, said that a recorded vote had been requested.

The Assembly then adopted draft resolution II by a vote of 134 in favour to 2 against (Israel, United States) with 2 abstentions (Australia, Canada).

The Assembly then adopted draft resolutions III and IV, as well as the draft decision, acting without a vote.

[…]

ANNEX

Vote on draft resolution on comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to World Conference against Racism

The draft text on follow-up to the World Conference against Racism (document A/56/581) was adopted by a recorded vote of 134 in favour to 2 against, with 2 abstentions, as follows:

In favour: Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against: Israel, United States.

Abstaining: Australia, Canada.

Absent: Afghanistan, Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Estonia, Fiji, France, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Swaziland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Viet Nam.

* *** *

For information media. Not an official record.“

• See full report “General Assembly adopts Declaration, Programme of Action of Durban World Conference Against Racism” on the website of the United Nations (last checked in March 2026).

• See also document “World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Declaration and Programme of Action” as PDF. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in its Fifty-sixth Session, 97th Meeting (PM) on 27 March 2002. Published by the United Nations, New York, 2002. Source: Page on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (last checked in March 2026).

• See also document “Official Records of the General Assembly’s Fifty-sixth session, 97th plenary meeting, on Wednesday, 27 March 2002, 3 p.m., New York” as PDF (source: UN website) (last checked in March 2026).

• See also the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance from 31 August – 8 September 2001 in Durban in the ‘Primary Sources’ section of this website.

• See also article “World Conference against Racism 2001” on Wikipedia (last checked in March 2026)