POSITION PAPER

COMMITTEE: HRC COUNTRY: United Kingdom AGENDA: Racism, Gender discrimination And Related Forms Of Intolerance UK plays an enterprising role internationally in protecting and promoting women's rights through the UN and other international institutions. It is committed to fighting racial discrimination and intolerance. Combatting all forms of racism remains an important part of the government's human right policy. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a United Nations Convention. A second - generation human rights instrument, the Convention commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races. UK has signed and ratified it , but does not recognize competence under Article 14, which allows the parties to recognize the competence of the Committee to hear complaints from individuals about violations of the rights protected by the Convention.UK interprets the Convention as creating an obligation to enact measures against hate speech and hate crimes only when a need arises. It is one of the 18 independent countries whose members are selected for a term of 4 years and the membership as of august 2010 is 'Patrick Thornberry'. UK has also signed and ratified the Convention on The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was adopted without vote by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993. It contained in it the recognition of "the urgent need for the universal application to women of the

rights and principles with regard to equality, security, liberty, integrity and dignity of all human beings". It is seen as the strengthening of the work of the CEDAW.As a consequence of the resolution, in 1999, the General Assembly, led by the representative from the Dominican Republic, designated 25 November as the International Day for Elimination Of Violence Against Women. The term 'violence against women' any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. In July, the Home Secretary agreed to extend a pilot project until March 2011, supporting victims of domestic violence who lack access to public funds because of their insecure immigration status, while seeking a permanent solution to ensure their protection. On 25 November, the government published its new National Action Plan to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, to ensure a gender perspective in addressing post-conflict situations. "Amnesty International" follows the motto "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness". It is a non-governmental organization and its primary targets governments, but also reports on non-governmental bodies and private individuals There are six key areas which Amnesty deals with: Women's, children's, minorities' and indigenous rights. Ending torture Abolition of the death penalty Rights of refugees Rights of prisoners of conscience Protection of human dignity. The other forms of intolerance such as Racial Segregation may have existed in early Anglo-Saxon England, restricting

intermarriage and resulting in the displacement of the native British population by Germanic incomers. Therefore, hereby we can conclude that UK is one of the actively participating countries in the matters listed above and it is taking steps to put an end to all forms of racism, gender discrimination and all other forms of intolerance and discriminations through its involvement, participation , ratification and lastly enforcement of the laws and decisions taken.