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Exactly 10 years ago today, the United Nations was closing what some had foreseen as a pivotal world conference in Durban, South-Africa. Mary Robinson, the Secretary General of the World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance perceived the event has having "the potential to be among the most significant gatherings at the start of this century".

In fact, the Durban Conference held from August 31 to September 8, 2001 turned out to be a sad display of cowardice on the part of leaders of the most powerful nations on earth. Human courage and wisdom was sorely lacking at Durban. The long overdue reparations due to the native peoples of Africa and of the Americas was deemed a taboo subject.

As I wrote in my piece titled "A Giant Step for Mankind: Made in Haiti" ( http://godisnotwhite.com/giantstep.htm ): "At that strategic moment, when the slavery-built empires of our times had record budget surpluses which would have made possible the crucial step toward redemption and restorative justice that was so eagerly anticipated at the Durban Conference of September 2001, the world witnessed instead a missed opportunity of gigantic proportions".

10 years onward, what progress has the United Nations accomplished in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Conference_against_Racism_2001