UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
16/07/2024 | News release | Archived content
Barcelona to host the 2024 UNESCO Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination
Despite important strides made in promoting equality worldwide, racism and discrimination continue to plague the global community. Discrimination has become widespread globally, increasing in three-out-of-four countries since 2015. These rising cases threaten the sense of dignity and equality that is common to all people.
In response to this challenge, UNESCO's In response to this concern, UNESCO will convene the 4th edition of the Global Forum Against Racism and Discrimination is designed to mobilize Member States to develop concrete solutions to end discrimination.
I am looking forward to working with Barcelona, which has proven to be an open and inclusive city in a context of growing expressions of discrimination and xenophobia.
Gabriela RamosAssistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO
This Global Forum will make us the global epicenter of the fight against racism and discrimination and will allow us to show our leadership as a city of peace and rights to the world, in line with UNESCO's mandate.
Jaume CollboniMayor of Barcelona
As with previous years, the Global Forum will focus on racial equity, gender equality, peace, justice, inclusive policy-making, and non-discrimination. It will bring together thousands of decision-makers, including ministers, academics and researchers, leaders, activists, artists, writers, and experts from around the world to share best practices in countering racism and discrimination and forging an equitable and sustainable future for all.
This year, the Global Forum will focus on establishing a Global Alliance - an international network of stakeholders working to overcome the barriers to racial equity and justice by deploying concrete actions.
Barcelona will follow in the footsteps of Mexico City (2022) and São Paulo (2023), which have both hosted the Global Forum, bringing together anti-racist and anti-discrimination champions, including Kailash Satyarthi, Martin Luther King III, Forest Whitaker, Xueli Abbing, and Valentina Sampaio. Last year's edition in São Paulo hosted 30,000 in-person and online participants from over 50 countries, and incubated the launch of the UNESCO Network of Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Officials to facilitate international collaboration in combatting discrimination.
UNESCO will organize a series of ministerial and thematic panels, creating linkages to enhance UNESCO initiatives such as the Routes of Enslaved Peoples, Master Classes Series against Racism and Discriminations, the Transforming MEN'talities initiative, the Programme to End Gender Stereotypes, and the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, among others.