#Opinion by Grigory Lukyantsev, Director of the Department for Multilateral Human Rights Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation:

📄 The adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) on 8 September 2001 marked one of the most significant milestones in the history of human rights protection. These seminal documents enshrined a global consensus on uncompromisingly combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, while fostering the creation of unified standards to define comprehensive measures for eradicating racial inequality.

🇺🇳 The DDPA laid the groundwork for establishing specialized mechanisms under the auspices of the United Nations, including the Intergovernmental Working Group and the Group of Independent Eminent Experts on the Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. It also paved the way for dedicated expert forums: the Permanent Forum and the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, as well as the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement.

🇷🇺 Russia consistently supports the work of these bodies. We advocate for intensifying the efforts of the international community and human rights instruments to ensure the full and effective implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

❗️We remain convinced that the DDPA, alongside the Outcome Document of the 2009 Durban Review Conference and the political declaration adopted on the tenth anniversary of the 2001 Durban Conference, has served as a solid foundation for international efforts to combat racism, racial discrimination, and related intolerance. In light of persistent manifestations of discrimination against people of African descent, we consider the ongoing work on the draft Declaration on the Respect, Protection, and Fulfillment of the Rights of People of African Descent to be both highly demanded and timely.

⚠️ False theories of racial and national supremacy continue to hold appeal in certain countries. A number of European states, while positioning themselves as the primary champions of democracy and human rights values, have chosen a path that privileges the titular nation, its language, and its culture at the expense of the political, socio-economic, and linguistic discrimination of the rest of the population. Of particular concern are the promotion of the doctrine of "civilizational exceptionalism," neo-colonial revanchism and attempts to falsify history and rehabilitate radical Nazi movements.

🇷🇺 The Russian Federation’s contribution to developing the Durban principles is underscored by its annual submission to the UN General Assembly of the resolution titled "Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance."

The voting results demonstrate growing international support for this traditional Russian initiative, which is presented annually to the UN General Assembly. The initiative is aimed at consolidating the Global Majority around the vital imperative of preventing the resurgence of the catastrophic Nazi ideology and resisting attempts to revise the outcomes of World War II, a victory achieved at the cost of tens of millions of lives.

🌐 The conceptual framework of the Durban process finds a direct continuation in the agenda of Russia’s cooperation with the states of the African continent. Tasks related to protecting sovereign equality, safeguarding the distinct identity of peoples, and shaping a more equitable multipolar world order are among the central themes of the third Russia–Africa Summit, which will take place on 28–29 October in Moscow.

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