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| Minister of Family, Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley |
Barbados will be represented at a United Nations (UN) high-level meeting this week to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA).
Minister of Family, Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley, and Director of the Commission for Pan-African Affairs, Dr. Deryck Murray, will attend the one-day meeting on Thursday, September 22, at the UN Headquarters, in New York.
This meeting forms part of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly and will bring together Heads of State, Ministers of Government, selected representatives of entities of the UN system, experts representing civil society and non-governmental organisations active in the field of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action calls for the universal ratification of the International Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and its effective implementation by state parties. The Convention was adopted and opened for signature and ratification on December 21, 1965, and Barbados agreed to it on November 8, 1972.
Barbados played a pivotal role in crafting the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in 2001, and as a result, it has been acknowledged as the driving force which ensured the issue of reparations was included and accorded priority. The Commission for Pan-African Affairs has taken the lead in monitoring and implementing the DDPA.