The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) convened a special meeting on “Reimagining Equality: Eliminating racism, xenophobia and discrimination for all in the decade of action for the SDGs” on 18 February 2021.  The Council addressed the links between structural racism, inequalities and the SDGs. The Council also focused on policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts.

The ECOSOC President issued a Presidential Statement to highlight the key messages and recommendations from the meeting. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must remain the blueprint to promote equality, inclusion, justice and dignity for all and combat racism in all its manifestations. The meeting underscored the need for an ambitious whole-of-society approach with greater urgency to dismantle own biases and systems that perpetuate racism and inequalities.

• New: Presidential Statement
• Programme
• Concept note
• Webcast
  • Morning meeting
  • Afternoon meeting

Statements

• Statement by H.E. Mr. Munir Akram, President of the Economic and Social Council
• Statement by H.E. Mr. António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
• Other statements (Member States, Observers and Civil Society representatives)
  • Morning meeting
  • Afternoon meeting

Special Video Messages

• Mr. Martin Luther King III, Global Human Rights Activist
• Mr. Forest Whitaker,  Founder and CEO of the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, United Nations SDG Advocate, UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation
• Prof. Wole Soyinka, Playwright and Poet, President of the Wole Soyinka Foundation

Resources

• UN: Let’s Fight Racism
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• UN Decade of Action for Sustainable Development
• UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
• Latest news from UN News Centre