Last year marked the 50^th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Convention is the centerpiece of the UN’s efforts to rid the world of the blight of racial discrimination. It was born in the era of apartheid,“Jim Crow” racial segregation in the United States and colonialism in other parts of the world.

Today, 177 countries have become States Parties to the Convention and for the past 45 years the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has worked to ensure that the Convention is a living document that has relevance and resonance in the lived experiences of communities across the globe.

Gay McDougall, Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Leitner Center Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, will discuss the work of the UN on combating racism, and will evaluate the progress of that work over 50 years and the prospects for impacting the most urgent issues in the years to come.

Prior to coming to Fordham, Ms. McDougall served as the first United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, as a member of the UN treaty body that oversees compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and as Executive Director of the international human rights NGO, Global Rights.  She was one of five international members of the South African Independent Electoral Commission that administered the first democratic, non-racial elections in that country.  For 14 years prior to that appointment, she had served as Director of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she worked to secure the release of thousands of political prisoners.

Leitner International Law Lecture Series