| II. CITIZEN’S CONFERENCE
BACKGROUND
NGOs, social justice groups, and civil society organizations in the
region, whose activities are linked to the issues to be addressed by the
UN World Conference against Racism, resolved to convene a Conference
of Citizens against Racism, Xenophobia, Intolerance and Discrimination,
complementary to and parallel with the Regional PrepCom for the
Americas.
For this purpose, a Convening Council of the Conference of Citizens
was established and was open to all organizations that wished to
participate in the process. The convening of the Conference was
appropriately representative, as the organizations that participated on
the Convening Council reflected the thematic, ethnic, racial and gender
diversity of the region’s civil society. The Ideas Foundation of Chile
was the Secretary General of the Citizen’s Conference, which took
place in Santiago, Chile on December 3-4, 2000.
The Citizen’s Conference had, among others, the following
objectives:
- To encourage the active commitment of citizens, peoples and civil
society organizations to the elimination of racism, xenophobia,
discrimination and all forms of related intolerance in our societies
- To highlight the different situations that affect victims of
racism, xenophobia, discrimination and related intolerance in the
Americas, in particular those which affect Afro-descendants and
indigenous peoples.
- To propose strategies to achieve full and effective equality, as
well as measures of prevention, reparation and compensation for racism, xenophobia, intolerance and
discriminatory behavior.
- To strengthen alliances and coalitions in the region among NGOs
and other civil society organizations that fight for the
construction of fair and equitable societies based on a culture of
diversity and respect.
- To influence the decisions that may be adopted by the World
Conference against Racism and its preparatory events, in particular
the Regional PrepCom for the Americas.
The original proposal of the Citizen’s Conference was to divide
the first day into caucuses (by social groups), with the goal of
debating the content of the Conference’s Final Declaration. The
caucuses originally proposed were the following:
1. Afro-descendants
2. Indigenous peoples
3. Migrants and refugees
4. Displaced persons
5. Other ethnic groups
- Related intolerance (other social groups)
The Afro-descendant caucus was subdivided into three regions (North
America, Central America and the Caribbean, and South America). A
similar proposal existed for the caucus of indigenous peoples, but the
indigenous representatives decided that it was necessary in this forum
to consolidate the work of indigenous groups. Therefore, they
established one caucus for the whole hemisphere and worked together
during the meetings of the Conference.
For the second day, it was proposed that the deliberations take place
in the form of thematic commissions, with the goal of debating the
content of the Conference’s Plan of Action. The proposed thematic
commissions were the following:
1. Gender, racism and discrimination
2. Access to justice and enforceability of rights
3. Democracy, globalization and social, economic and cultural rights.
4. Communication, education and the Internet
5. Land, environment and territory
6. Civil freedoms and civil and political rights
7. Civil society networks and international cooperation
8. Children, young people, older adults, racism and discrimination
On the first day, however, following a proposal by the International
Human Rights Law Group, it was decided that in order to allow for deeper
discussion, the caucuses would work during both days of the Conference
and there would only be one document, the Final Declaration. On the
second day, the thematic commissions that wished to convene meetings
parallel to the caucuses could also discuss the Final Declaration.
 
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