A/76/434 monitor implementation of the document (General Assembly resolution 75/314, para. 1 (d)). 66. Several civil society organizations, however, have raised concerns that the International Decade for People of African Descent has not been fully implemented by the United Nations human rights machinery. These groups have pointed to the lack of full publicization of the programme of activities of the International Decade, including the publication of the Programme and its translation into other languages by Member States. 83 In addition, the coalition noted delays in the midterm review of the Decade and raised concerns that the International Decade and the Permanent Forum were moving away from the normative agenda set out in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. 84 67. Several international institutions were directly addressed by recommendations in the Programme of Action, including the Department for Peacekeeping Operations (now the Department of Peace Operations) of the Secretariat, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the International Labour Organization and UNESCO. 85 68. UNESCO, in particular, has played an important role in follow -up initiatives of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Its Slave Route Project has been frequently cited with regard to recognizing the historic roots of racism, 86 and, in developing its Integrated strategy to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, adopted in 2003, UNESCO was directly inspired by the document. 87 UNESCO has also been a frequent participant in the sessions of Durban follow-up mechanisms, because education has been a thematic focus of the implementation of the document (see A/HRC/19/77). 69. Institutionalization of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at the United Nations requires consistent and transparent monitoring of international implementation. In this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran called for the holding of a world conference against racism on a biannual basis and haile d the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent as a “positive development” that helped to “channel specific issues” and to “maintain necessary perspective for” the document. 88 IV. Barriers to the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action 70. Notwithstanding the progress described above, significant barriers to effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action remain. Among them are continued efforts by some States to actively discard the document as a source of international racial justice commitments. There have also been financial, bureaucratic and logistical obstacles that have hindered its full implementation. __________________ 83 84 85 86 87 88 18/26 Submission on the international civil society round table on people of African descent, held on 7 August 2021. Ibid. Programme of Action, paras. 112, 114 and 153–156. Ibid., paras. 119–120. See, for example, A/HRC/14/18, para. 93. UNESCO, document 32 C/13. See also UNESCO 32 C/Resolution 28. Submission by the Islamic Republic of Iran. 21-15325

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