I will be attending the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance later this year. The conference is being organised by the United Nations and will take place in Durban, South Africa, from 30 August to 7 September.
Ireland has fully participated in preparations for the world conference. As part of those preparations, a National Preparatory Conference on Racism was held in Dublin Castle last September. Last October, I headed the Irish delegation to the European Conference Against Racism in Strasbourg. The European conference was organised by the Council of Europe as part of the European contribution towards the forthcoming world conference. A political declaration was adopted at the concluding session of the European conference by Ministers of the Council of Europe member states, including Ireland.