"If we can find common ground and unite around a common purpose with courage and determination, we can end cycles of violence and discrimination and we can do justice to the individual and collective assertion of human rights for people of all races, all religions, and all ethnicities."

Navanethem Pillay,
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
6 October 2008

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is organizing a series of events to be held during the Durban Review Conference that will highlight the issues being discussed at the conference itself. The Durban Review Conference will be held in Geneva in April and will assess progress made on the measures adopted at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which was held in Durban, South Africa.

Under themes such as the rights of indigenous peoples, the link between racism and poverty, and multiple forms of discrimination faced by women who are also victims of racism, the side events organized by OHCHR will enable a large number of stakeholders to exchange views and share best practices on the issues at the heart of the Durban review process.

Non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors, such as victims groups and academics, are essential in combating all forms of racism and OHCHR is encouraging their participation in the review process. To help showcase the activities of civil society actors, OHCHR is also making several meeting rooms available for the organization of further side events for groups or individuals accredited to take part in the Conference.

All side events will be held daily during the Review Conference, April 20 -24, 2009, from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, where the Conference itself will be held.

Organizations wishing to hold events in the rooms provided at the Palais des Nations should consult the Guidance Note on Side Events for more information on the process and criteria to be applied, and should complete in full the inscription form no later than 14 April 2009.

Queries on side events should be sent by email to:
reviewconferenceevent@ohchr.org or by fax to: + 41 22 928 9050