UNESCO IN THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST RACISM - RECOMMENDATIONS & KEY TAKEAWAYS

UNESCO is the soft power of the UN, that convinces cities that they are essential tools. UNESCO should continue to strengthen cooperation between cities, support data collection and research, share experiences and lessons learnt, always remain vigilant and work together with Mayors.
                                                                                                                                                                                                           Siegfried Nagl, Mayor of Graz
UNESCO should publish guidelines for data collection that can be used across countries and continue to pursue current activities.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Professor Heyer, France
Policies can have transformative impact for structural and institutional change; UNESCO can play a role to build on the diversity of mankind from a global perspective.
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Aida Guillen, City of Barcelona
A UNESCO run observatory to collect data on racism could play an important role coordinating labour, e.g. in Spain some organisations collect data but don’t share a common perspective. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Moha Gerehou, Spain
 
UNESCO should be brave and explicit about racism, and continue to be a champion against racism, as it has such a powerful position (…) being clear this is a movement and not a moment.
UNESCO should hold organisations to account to continue a long-term focus on racism (…) and do something around a common minimum standard of data collection; sharing things that don’t work well as well as things that do work.
                                                                                                                                                                                                              Nick Glynn, Univ. of Cambridge
UNESCO should understand itself as part of a broader group of institutions tacking racism. It should address economic, social, and cultural inequalities, and adopt a participatory approach integrating the voices of all stakeholders. It should provide political leadership that is inclusive and able to harness (…) strengthen multilevel multi-stakeholder participation.
 
There is an urgent need to fill the data gap in Europe as well as other regions, including best practices and learning against racial discrimination including intersectionality with gender discrimination.
“WE ARE EXPERIENCING A MOMENTUM”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Professor Payandeh, CERD