The Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations by its resolution 2106(XX) of 21 December 1965.
Although the Universal Declaration on Human Rights notes that “All persons are born free and equal in dignity and in rights,” mounting international concern over racial discrimination, including some imposed by certain Governments such as apartheid and segregation, led the United Nations General Assembly, in 1963, to take the formal step of adopting the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination which made four principal points:
- Any doctrine of racial differentiation or superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and has no justification in theory or practice;
- All forms of racial discrimination and, still more so, government policies based on racial superiority or hatred violate fundamental human rights, tend to jeopardize friendly relations among peoples, co-operation among nations, and international peace and security;
- Racial discrimination harms not only those who are its objects but also those who practice it; and
- A world society free of racial segregation and discrimination, both factors that create hatred and division, is a fundamental aim of the United Nations.
Soon thereafter adoption of the Convention by the General Assembly provided the world community with a legal instrument to eliminate racial discrimination. The Convention entered into force 4 January 1969.