Internal polls reveal widespread racism within the United Nations
By Thalif Deen: While continuing to energetically preach the virtues of equality, defending equal rights for all, without distinction of race, sex, origin, language or belief, the United Nations Organization underlines its condemnation of racism and all expression of racial discrimination in the world. However, internal polls blur that image.
How hypocritical is it when racism rears its ugly face in your own backyard, particularly in Geneva which, ironically, is home to the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights? (Ohchr)?
Some of those questions were answered in a survey of more than 688 UN employees in Geneva, which yielded surprising data that reaffirms the long-shadowed fact that "racism exists within the United Nations."
The survey revealed that “more than one in three staff members have personally experienced racial discrimination and / or witnessed how other people experience racial discrimination in the workplace. And two-thirds of those who experienced racism did so on grounds of nationality.
A separate poll by the UN Staff Union in New York was equally revealing.
According to their findings, 59% of those surveyed said they "do not feel that the UN effectively addresses racial justice in the workplace, while every second interviewee noted that they are not comfortable talking about racial discrimination at work." .
Meanwhile, the UN General Secretariat in New York reacted hesitantly and ingloriously, with the abrupt withdrawal of its own online survey on racism, in which it asked employees to identify themselves as "black, brown, white, mixed race. / multiracial or any other ».
But the most offensive of the categories listed in the survey was "yellows," a long-standing Western racist description of Asians, including Japanese, Chinese and Koreans.
A message, which did not include an apology, was emailed to employees on August 19 that merely said: 'The United Nations Survey on Racism has been disconnected and will be reviewed and republished, taking into account concerns legitimate expressed by the staff ”.
The results of the Geneva survey also reveal:
Among those who experienced or witnessed racism, the majority of staff indicated that racial discrimination affected opportunities for career advancement. A significant number of officials also indicated that racial discrimination manifested itself in the form of verbal abuse and exclusion from work events, such as decision-making, training, missions, assignments, etc.
Large numbers of people who experienced or witnessed racial discrimination, harassment or abuse of authority indicated that they did not take any action. Lack of trust in the mechanisms to use in the organization was cited as the most common reason. Many also stated that they feared retaliation.
Interviewees believed that racism should be addressed in a variety of ways. These include responsibility and zero tolerance, training and awareness, greater transparency in hiring, greater diversity, and a more open dialogue on the subject.
Prisca Chaoui, executive secretary of the Staff Coordination Council of the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG), with 3,500 members, told IPS: “We believe, as a staff union, that it is time for the organization to seriously fight against widespread racism and discrimination ”.
"This means greater responsibility and a zero tolerance policy towards any racial act," he stressed.
The union leader indicated that “we are pleased to see that the UN administration is willing to address this issue and, as a staff union, we are ready to help propose serious measures that go beyond empty words and lead to real change. so that the UN shows that it is capable of defending the principles it preaches to the world in general.
But despite this encouraging element, she stressed that "we are concerned that many cases of racism continue to go unreported due to the lack of confidence of the staff in the existing recourse mechanisms and fear of reprisals."
“The survey findings confirm that racism exists within the United Nations, as Secretary General António Guterres has already stated. They also show that supervisors and senior managers have an important role to play, as do all staff, in addressing this problem, ”added Chaoui.
The union leader assured that the results of the survey “will guide our interactions with management at the duty station and worldwide. They will also be used to assist the Council in proposing to UNOG top management a strategy to combat racism in the workplace.
Patricia Nemeth, president of the United Nations Staff Union, indicated that the union conducted its own survey among the 6,500 affiliates at headquarters in New York and the 20,000 local staff in peacekeeping operations around the world. . The poll was entitled "Survey to take the pulse on racial justice."
He explained that the murder of African American George Floyd on May 25 in the United States, which joined other cases of racial violence in different parts of the world, “reopened the wounds of racial injustice that afflict the host country and the world as a whole. ».
The UN, he noted, has a normative framework to address racial discrimination within the organization, but there is still much work to be done, as Guterres acknowledged on June 4, in a letter to staff on the matter.
"In this spirit, the Staff Union is committed to serving as a platform for progress towards greater inclusion, diversity, dignity and social justice both inside and outside the UN," said Nemeth, who is also vice president of Terms of Service for the Coordinator Committee of International Staff Associations and Unions (CCISUA, in English).
The survey in New York, he explained, was intended to provide the Staff Union with a better understanding of the current situation regarding racial injustice within the United Nations General Secretariat and will help determine “how we, as staff, we can help make improvements and also contribute to broader policy debates. '
The survey combined questions about racial discrimination in the workplace in all its forms. Among them, Nemeth said, they highlighted “questions about her own experience with racial discrimination; and specific questions about discrimination against Afro-descendants, which is a key focus of concern in our duty station at this time.
The responses received included:
44% of those surveyed indicated that there is not adequate racial diversity within their department and 46% indicated that they feel that Afro-descendant staff are not adequately represented within their department.
43% of those surveyed indicated that they have experienced harassment or bullying in the workplace as a result of their race.
Staff members have experienced acts of racial discrimination in the workplace, primarily in the tone and language they have been treated, in the selection and promotion processes, and in recognition of their authority and grade. When it comes to witnessing racist behavior towards others, the order remains the same, but in a higher percentage.
The New York staff would appreciate the Organization ensuring diversity in positions of authority; establish an anonymous channel to report racial discrimination; and ensure racial diversity in executive and human resources offices and staff facing offices in the formal and informal justice system, so that staff members feel safe sharing their concerns and confident that they will be understood and taken seriously.
Respondents believed that racism should be addressed in a number of ways. These include training and awareness, increased transparency in hiring, need for action rather than words, creating safe and inclusive workspaces, understanding of structural and systemic racism.
Nemeth told IPS that the survey results will allow the staff union coordinating group on racial justice to plan further actions tailored to the specific needs of the UN staff community in New York.
“We have already started a series of expert talks that aim to provide historical context on the scale and severity of the transatlantic slave trade, the meaning and persistence of systemic racism, but also the remarkable richness and cultural contribution of the African diaspora in the world ”, he explained.
Meanwhile, in his letter to the UN staff in June, Guterres said that “the position of the United Nations on racism is very clear: this scourge violates the Charter of the United Nations and degrades our fundamental values.
"The survey has shown that there is a problem, and not only because of skin color but mainly because of nationality, which for an organization called the United Nations is worrisome," Ian Richards, former president of the Coordinating Committee for Associations and Unions, told IPS. International Staff and Economist of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (Unctad), based in Geneva.
Therefore, to solve this problem, in his view the administration must recognize that each country, culture and destination experiences racism in different ways, whether linked to slavery, colonialism, immigration, national rivalries or conflicts. And each of them needs their own treatment.
"We look forward to working with the Secretary General to resolve this issue," said Richards.
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