Thank you, Mr. Chairperson,
I am making this intervention on behalf of the cross-regional group on Complementary Standards, comprising the delegations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Uruguay.
After all the discussions we have had in this Committee, what has become clearer to our group is that the key is implementation. Evidently, all the normative instruments we need in the fight against racism are already there, whilst in reality these instruments are not fully utilized. We share the view of the Five Experts that enhancing the application and implementation of existing international instruments such as the ICERD and other instruments, the DDPA and the outcome document of the DRC is the most reasonable and efficient way to fill the gap between the norm and the reality.
Given that this reality falls far below the standards set out in the existing norms, it is very tempting to introduce a new legal tool in the hope that it would fix all
shortcomings. However, as eloquently pointed out by many delegations from our group and others, an attempt to establish a new legal instrument, in areas other than that of human rights education, would run a high risk of duplicating and even undermining existing norms and standards rather than strengthen and update them.
Our group is of the view that exploring the ways and means to enhance the efficacy of existing international instruments should be one of the focuses of our endeavour. In this respect, we would like to kindly remind you, Mr. Chairperson, that in its previous contribution our group suggested that this Committee address implementation and procedural gaps with regard to the ICERD and consider the concrete proposals put forward by the CERD in its report.
We are well aware of the specific mandate of this Committee, which should not be interpreted as ruling out the need for it to address implementation gaps. Moreover, we simply cannot afford to look away from viable solutions which could better serve the purpose of this Committee.
I thank you.
