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UPDATE #2
South Africa's National Conference on Racism

Dear Friends

I attended South Africa's National Conference on Racism from 30 August – 2 September and also had the opportunity to attend a meeting with the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) on their preparations for the World Conference.  I have summarized those meetings below for your information.

Summary of South African National Conference on Racism

From 30 August – 2 September, I participated in the conference organized by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), entitled, "Combating Racism: A Nation in Dialogue.  President Mbeki called for such a conference in his State of the Nation address in February 2000, and he requested that the SAHRC organize it.  It was viewed primarily as a way to open the dialogue about racism in South Africa, but it was also viewed as the first step towards national preparation for the World Conference Against Racism.

Over 1,000 South Africans participated in the conference and approximately 20 observers were there from Australia, Brazil, the United States, Nigeria and Switzerland (Geneva).  The Conference was organized into three themes, 1) The History, Nature and Sources of Racism, 2) The Consequences, Impact and Contemporary Forms of Racism, and 3) Strategies to Combat Racism: The Way Forward.  There were many sub-themes under each theme.  Participants heard keynote addresses in the morning and worked in small groups in the afternoon.  Several things struck me about the conference:

1. The President, Deputy President and all Ministers participated in the conference, most staying the entire time.  It was a clear indication of the governmental support for this conference.

2. During the month of July, the SAHRC organized a "Consultative Process" in all 9 provinces as a way to gain additional input.  This was a major undertaking.  I even saw posters in the Post Office advertising these provincial hearings.

3. There is a HUGE problem of denial of racism in SA.  The Democratic Party and other conservative whites argued that by merely holding such a conference, it CREATED racism.  In other words, for them, naming something creates it.

4. The nation "continued to be in dialogue" well after the conference.  There was massive media reporting, although there was concern of the bias in reporting (as well as racism in the media.  Just a note the SAHRC had recently released a report on racism in the media.)  This conference had a major impact on the country and opened people's eyes.  Some felt such a conference should have been held much earlier (particularly during Mandela's tenure as whites would have taken it much better).  They argue that placating whites earlier, facilitated the denial of racism in SA.  Racism is a very real problem that SA will have to deal with.  The poor economy and extremely high unemployment makes it even that much harder.

Many of the papers from the conference can be found on the SAHRC website ( www.sahrc.org.za ).  The final statement is not up yet because they are incorporating suggestions and comments.  From the draft statement, some of the key recommendations from the conference include, creating a national anti-racism network, anti-racism training in the schools, transformation of the police and judiciary, effective monitoring and evaluation of laws currently in place, a declaration of a decade against racism and December 16 declared as a National Day for Racial Reconciliation.  Hundreds of recommendations came from the small groups and I hope these will be posted on the SAHRC website as well.  Two recommendations that particularly struck me had to do with making it mandatory for all SA's to learn one African language, and a fund for whites to make voluntary financial contributions that would symbolically be a form of reparations and redistribution of wealth.  I can't describe it precisely, but many whites there suggested such a fund and that 16 December be a day for visible and meaningful acts of reconciliation.

Meeting with SANGOCO

Eleven people met in the SANGOCO offices from 10:00 – 2:30 on Tuesday, 5 September.  The meeting included 12 people, including SANGOCO staff, members of the Advisory Committee to the SA Secretariat for the World Conference, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Laurie Wiseberg, Chantal Kisoon and myself.  The agenda included a briefing from Laurie on the World Conference and NGO Forum, an update on developments in SA and an overview of the Advisory Committee.  I will limit this report to an update on SA preparations.

The most important thing to note is that there still IS NOT a final decision on the venue for the conference and NGO Forum.  So many things depend on the venue, until that is resolved, it will be difficult to move forward.  The Department of Foreign Affairs has called a meeting for 14 September and it is hoped that after this meeting, the venue will be announced.  There are really a variety of problems with the various venues.  The final DATES FOR THE NGO FORUM have been decided, it will be held 28 August – 1 September.  This is just a shift by one day of the dates previously circulated.

There will be a separate registration (as is usually the case) for the NGO forum and there will probably be some fee (possibly sliding) associated with the registration.  They will begin working on a form and a way to handle MC, Visa, etc. from an internet site, although they will also accept mailed registration. 

They are estimating only 5,000 – 8,000 participants for the NGO Forum.  This is not a reflection of interest, only availability of space.  Again, the venue will really determine this, but it is a reality that maybe only 5,000 people can be accommodated.  This means that there will need to be some process to make sure there is regional representation at the NGO Forum.

Although SANGOCO is facilitating the process at this time and will always be centrally involved, a minimal staff of 4 (they will increase that later) is being hired to be the Secretariat.  They will have a 14-month contract (Sept 2000 – Nov. 2001).  They will be in the same office building as SANGOCO and utilize their legal structure, but will not share offices with SANGOCO.  They plan to "out-source" certain services instead of trying to do them in the secretariat.  These include travel arrangements, shuttle services, security at the conference, etc.

SANGOCO was finishing their comprehensive proposal this week.  They are still meeting with Laurie, but also meeting with some foundations in South Africa who have indicated that they were interested in supporting the Secretariat. 

A lot of time was spent discussing the Botswana NGO meeting and the Dakar PrepCom.  Chantal gave an overview of what she has been doing to arrange the Botswana meeting and Laurie indicated that she has already approached several organizations to be members of the Steering Committee for the NGO meeting.  That Steering Committee will meet in October.  Laurie asked the group for other organizations to approach and the body gave her several names.

I should say that there is a strong commitment on the part of the Advisory Committee to work and coordinate with the international NGO Facilitation Team (FT).  I have been asked to send the list of the FT members and I will do that today (Thursday).  It is hoped that at least one member of the Secretariat, Advisory Committee or SANGOCO will be present at the 4 regional PrepComs, the 4 NGO meetings and the meetings in Geneva (Informal in October, Inter-sessional in January and the PrepCom in May).  Representatives of the CC and FT need to meet with these individuals when they come.  Prior coordination so this will be possible is essential.

Just a note on the Advisory Committee.  It is still being comprised, but once it is finalized, that list will be circulated.  It also became clear that there must be a separation between Secretariat activities (related to the NGO Forum) and national preparatory processes (getting South African NGOs informed, accredited, registered, etc).  SANGOCO will have its annual national meeting at the end of September.  This will be an ideal time to share information about the World Conference with NGOs and finalize both structures.

We discussed many things, but I think I should end this here.  I did want to say that there is GREAT interest on the side of NGOs and the government there to have a special focus on young adult participation at the conference and NGO Forum.  Other countries are interested in seeing this, as well as NGOs from various countries.  IPU is committed to mobilizing young adults for the World Conference, so that is why I brought up the issue.  I was glad to hear such support for the idea.  I promised to put some thoughts down on paper and share with participants at the SANGOCO meeting.  Anyone who would like to work with me on that is welcome.

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