Assessing the Contribution of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to Global Racial Equality

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) was adopted on 21 December 1965 as the first of the nine core UN human rights treaties. It has 182 States Parties today. This chapter assesses the treaty’s achievements while also identifying certain gaps and weaknesses. Section 1 underlines ICERD’s role as a pioneering instrument, opening the door to the realisation of a UN human rights treaty system. Section 2 considers ICERD’s status as a global but not universal treaty, examining the small number of States that have not ratified ICERD, such as Malaysia and Myanmar. Section 3 examines an important weakness in ICERD’s protective framework, the remarkably low take-up on the optional individual communications mechanism under Article 14. Section 4 undertakes a thematic exploration of ICERD mechanisms in the context of “Black Lives Matter”, and reflects on what this global movement might tell us about the effectiveness of the treaty. The conclusion emphasises the significance of ICERD to global racial equality and the need to bridge the gap to its universal application, given the largely customary status of its provisions.