Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

This Fact Sheet discusses United Nations action to eliminate racial discrimination. It outlines the four principle points of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It discusses the establishment of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and describes the composition, mandate and work of the Committee. The full text of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is provided.

This General Recommendation is of particular significance in that it explicitly recognizes that racial discrimination does not always affect women and men in the same way. Racial discrimination, therefore, will often escape detection if it is not understood in the context of gendered life experiences. The Committee expresses its commitment to integrating gender perspectives into its work and to that end, requests that State Parties include gender specific information in their reports to the Committee.