On 3-5 February 2002 representatives of youth groups from the different subregions of Asia met in Singapore and discussed possible follow-up activities to the Youth Summit Declaration and Plan of Action adopted in Durban during the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR). The meeting planned more active youth involvement in anti-racism activities. They decided to prioritize the maintenance and strengthening of links between youth organizations in the region and the monitoring of follow-up activities to the WCAR. They are now looking for key contact person in each of the forty-three countries in the region, who can assist in collating and disseminating information about the follow-up activities, and help develop youth network at the national level. They also discussed the need to formalize the structure of the Global Youth Network that was created at the WCAR and to hold the inaugural International Youth Summit on 21 March (International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) in 2003.
Aside from this activity, governments and NGOs in the Asia-Pacific region do not seem to be taking specific follow-up activities.
The follow-up activities of NGOs figured prominently in a meeting organized by the Anti-Discrimination Unit of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. This meeting entitled the "Second Stocktaking After Durban - NGOs in Action" discussed post-Durban activities of the NGOs (held or planned) based on the Declaration and Programme of Action of the WCAR. The meeting was held on 22 March 2002 in Geneva, during the 58th session of the Commission on Human Rights.
For further information please visit: www.communityzero.com/globalnetwork-asia (go to preview site) or contact Mr. Hayato Nakamura in Japan at jp_youth@hotmail.com
Kazuhiro Kawamoto is a staffmember of HURIGHTS OSAKA.