Side-event "Towards Universal Guidelines on Policies for Addressing Xenophobia and its Impact on Human Rights in Migration: Launching of the CERD-CMW Joint General Comment/Recommendation Consultation Phase"

This event was co organized by the CERD and CMW Committees, in partnership with the Graduate Institute's Global Migration Centre, The Geneva Human Rights Platform of the Geneva Academy, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Several UN Agencies and States' Permanent Missions to the UN co-sponsor this activity. It was organized in the margins of the 57th session of the Human Rights Council.

It provided an overview of the process leading to the joint General Comment by CMW and CERD on the eradication of xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants. The event also reflected on the broad political consensus and support to this process. 

 Panelists 

• H.E. Omar Zniber, President of the UN Human Rights Council, and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Morocco to the UN in Geneva
• H.E. Emily Roper, Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the UN in Geneva
• H.E. Fernando Israel Espinosa Olivera, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN in Geneva
• Adriana Quinones, Head of Human Rights and Development, UN Women Geneva
• Benyam Mezmur, Member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
• Stéphane Jaquemet, COO and Director of Policy, International Catholic Migration Commission
• Professor Vincent Chetail, Director of the Global Migration Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute

Moderators: Pablo Ceriani Cernadas, Vice Chair, Committee on Migrant Workers &
Ibrahima Guissé, Rapporteur of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination

Please find the flyer here.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW) are currently developing a Joint General Recommendation/Comment on comprehensive public policies for preventing and eradicating xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families, other non-nationals (or perceived as such) affected by racial and all intersecting grounds of discrimination, and societies. 

This important joint initiative of the two UN Committees aims to adopt "authoritative guidance" for States parties, based on the Committees' normative mandate within International Human Rights Law. The General Recommendation/Comment will be directed to guide public policies for comprehensively addressing one of the more pressing challenges in a world where human mobility has become a structural, multidimensional phenomenon that is increasingly shaping societies and communities.  

Between December 2023 and April 2024, CERD and CMW received submissions from stakeholders on the joint general recommendation/comment on xenophobia affecting migrants, based on a Concept Note and Questionnaire prepared by the Committees. All the documents and the information on this consultative phase can be found at https://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2024/call-submissions-concept-paper-cerd-cmw-joint-general-commentrecommendation.  Subsequently, the CERD and CMW Working Group created for leading this initiative, prepared a first draft of the General Recommendation/Comment, which is being reviewed by the members of the two Committees.

A second consultative phase will be carried out from September to November 2024, through global and regional consultations. In partnership with UN Agencies and other key stakeholders, the goal of these consultations is to seek substantive inputs and contributions on the draft general recommendation/comment by experts from all regions. The expert consultations will also raise awareness about xenophobia and its negative impact on human rights and human development policies, ultimately helping to create effective and holistic policies that protect the rights of migrants, promote cohesive societies, and eradicate xenophobia and related intersectional discrimination globally.