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Addressing systemic racism and promoting racial justice is a central plank of the Biden Administration’s efforts to restore a strong focus on human rights to the United States’ domestic and international policy. This panel discussion will take a critical look at what America needs to do at home in order to be a more credible advocate for democracy and human rights in the multilateral arena.

In the context of the U.S. reengagement with the UN Human Rights Council, Desirée Cormier Smith, Senior Advisor in the Bureau of International Organisation Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, will give opening remarks.   

Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou and Davide Rodogno, Professors of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute, will moderate a discussion with: 

• Gay McDougall, Senior Fellow and Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence, Fordham University School of Law and former Vice Chair and 2021 candidate for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

• Opal Tometi, Co-founder of Black Lives Matter and Founder of Diaspora Rising, a new media and advocacy hub dedicated to strengthening the bonds amongst members of the global Black diaspora

• Eric K. Ward, Executive Director, Western States Center and Senior Fellow, Southern Poverty Law Center and Race Forward

This online panel discussion is organised in partnership with the United States Mission to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva.  

Crédit UN photo/Violaine Martin