{"id":31887,"date":"2026-04-15T07:47:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T05:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=31887"},"modified":"2026-04-15T08:23:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T06:23:41","slug":"un-human-rights-chief-calls-reparatory-justice-vital-to-dismantling-systemic-racism","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/un-human-rights-chief-calls-reparatory-justice-vital-to-dismantling-systemic-racism\/","title":{"rendered":"UN human Rights Chief calls reparatory justice vital to dismantling systemic racism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Addressing the fifth session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, T\u00fcrk acknowledged the progress made over recent decades toward racial justice and equality. He cited the adoption of anti\u2011discrimination legislation, the establishment of independent human rights and equality bodies and initial steps toward reparations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, he warned that these gains remain uneven and fragile, with progress stalling or even reversing in some parts of the world. \u201cFor people of African descent, daily realities still include poverty, discrimination and racism,\u201d T\u00fcrk said, pointing to unequal treatment in workplaces, hospitals, classrooms and interactions with law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He noted that poverty rates remain consistently higher among people of African descent across all regions, particularly affecting women, young people and those experiencing intersecting forms of discrimination. \u201cRacism and dehumanising rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities and online platforms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>T\u00fcrk also warned that emerging digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, are reproducing and amplifying existing racial biases against people of African descent. \u201cThese daily realities are the direct legacy of colonialism and enslavement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;UN\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31888,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-31887","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Reparatory justice for colonialism, enslavement and the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans is essential to dismantling systemic racism, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker T\u00fcrk, has said.","published_date":"","news_description":"Reparatory justice for colonialism, enslavement and the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans is essential to dismantling systemic racism, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker T\u00fcrk, has said.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31903,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/31887\/revisions\/31903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=31887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}