United Nations, March 24, 2026 Nearly 70 years after South African police shot peaceful demonstrators in Sharpeville protesting apartheid-era laws, killing 69 people, the United Nations renewed its commitment to working for justice and equality on Monday, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
In her opening remarks, General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock recalled that the crowd that gathered outside Sharpeville police station on March 21, 1960, “came armed not with weapons, but with conviction – not to divide society, but to demand their dignity within it.”
She added that the annual celebration is about more than one infamous incident, as it is clear that racism still persists in every corner of the world.
“Sometimes it’s overt and banal – like hurling obscenities at someone else, or graffiti,” Ms. Baerbock said, speaking in the General Assembly Hall. “Sometimes it’s quiet and reserved – masked by bureaucracy and hidden within the ordinary.”
“But whether loud or silent, it is evil and harmful, and its consequences extend far beyond individuals.”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres explained in his statements that racism harms everyone.
“It continues the harmful consequences of slavery, colonialism and oppression,” he said.
Racism also “fuels many of the problems we face today,” including economic, social and political inequality, as well as discriminatory policies and practices and conflicts.
Moreover, “many solutions to address it are weakening, as some governments dismantle anti-racist policies and practices, and leaders attempt to rewrite history.”
The UN Secretary-General expressed particular alarm at how racism and xenophobia are being mainstreamed on digital platforms and in political discourse.
He added: “What can start with dog whistles – coded messages intended to encourage other fanatics – can quickly turn into full-blown hate speech.”
“We know where this road leads: to more injustice, more violence, and worse.”
Guterres said that the solution is solidarity, calling on governments, institutions, companies and communities to work together to protect the dignity, justice, equality and rights of every person.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk highlighted how history has shown that movements demanding greater equality cannot be curbed.
He cited the example of Sharpeville as well as Ruby Bridges, the African-American girl who desegregated schools in the United States; Activist Ana Paula Gomez de Oliveira, who seeks justice for Afro-Brazilian mothers who lost their children to police violence, and American civil rights pastor Jesse Jackson, who passed away last month.
“These and countless other acts of resistance changed the face of our world,” he said. “Today, we owe them nothing less than an all-out effort to protect and advance this progress.”
Türk stressed the urgent need for political will, including combating discrimination through strongly enforced laws and promoting accountability for all forms of racial discrimination and hatred.
“Being anti-racist does not mean standing with one group against another,” he said. “It means standing for human rights and justice – for all.”
American law professor Justin Hansford – a founding member of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent – spoke of how he took to the streets for racial justice with “tear gas in the air, tanks in the road, police in the streets”. Names Like Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and George Floyd on my lips.”
He described the sixty-nine people slaughtered in the Sharpeville massacre as martyrs for the cause of democracy and racial justice whose sacrifices resonate today.
“Their courage showed that the world will always be watching so that racial justice does not become a promise deferred but a condition achieved,” he said.
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