Equality and Human Rights Commission

The international human rights committee that considers racial discrimination is the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the relevant convention is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

ICERD was the first of the nine United Nations (UN) human rights treaties. It was adopted in 1965 by the United Nations’ General Assembly. As of November 2010, 174 states are party to ICERD; the UK ratified in 1969.

The Convention defines what constitutes racial discrimination and sets out a comprehensive framework for ensuring that civil, political, economic and social rights are enjoyed by all, without distinction of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. By ratifying ICERD, the states parties show their commitment to make the rights contained in the Convention a reality in their country.

The UK is required to submit a report once every two years to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The UK submitted its report in February 2010. On 2 September 2011, the United Nations published its concluding observations on the UK Government's record on race equality. This followed an examination of the UK Government’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which took place in Geneva on 23 and 24 August 2011. The Commission submitted a shadow report to the Committee and gave evidence during the examination process. The UN Committee’s recommendations address a number of issues which were also highlighted in our own report.

A list of the full recommendations can be found at the links below:

• Download Committee's Concluding Observations (PDF)
• CERD statement on Dale Farm (PDF)

Our report draws the Committee’s attention to the key issues that the Commission considers are impacting on race equality, highlights gaps in the State report, and makes recommendations to the Committee for government to take action.

The Commission feels that whilst progress has been made on some of the previous recommendations by the CERD, there are still significant issues where we feel more progress could have been made. Two of the major areas of concern raised in the Commission’s report are:

• The drastic inequalities and discrimination faced by Roma, Gypsies and Irish Travellers across the UK. We are particularly concerned about site provision, which we see as the lynch-pin to many of the inequalities suffered by these communities.
• The disproportionate use of stop and search powers, particularly against young men from ethnic minorities. We will continue to push police federations on this matter.

You can find details of all the concerns raised by the Commission to the CERD Committee by downloading our full report.

Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination on the UK’s 18th, 19th and 20th periodic reports

• Download PDF

New guide

We have produced a guide jointly with the Runnymede Trust to explain ICERD and what rights and remedies this Convention affords people and groups to challenge racial inequality.

Guide: From local voices to global audience: Engaging with the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

• Download PDF
• Download Word
• Download Welsh Word

More information

Find out more from the UN about the Committee - CERD
Find out more from the UN about the Convention - ICERD

Global action on racism - Durban Review Conference

The Commision attended the United Nations anti-racism conference in Geneva in April 2009. As the accredited National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and equalities regulator for Britain, the Commission joined NHRIs from around the world to back calls for a renewed effort to combat all forms of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance. Find out more >