anti racism conference overwhelming experience

August 2001: Behind the Mask's Donna Smith attended the UN conference on racism, xenophobia and related intolerances. In a first report, a newcomers desperate efforts to develop focus in a circus of ralleys, press meetings, satellite conferences, concerts and caucus assemblees are described. All together: an overwhelming experience.

By the time I got to Durban - in the early evening of Thursday, August 30 - for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), I had already missed the Youth Summit and the Palestinian-Israeli contretemps, while the NGO Forum was in the third of its five days.

That same night I missed the Busi Mhlongo performance at Bar Go in Greyville. The next day, when I went to get my media accreditation at the Durban Exhibition Centre (DEC) where a part of the conference was housed, they had run out of programmes in English, and I found out that I had already missed two meetings of the Sexual Orientation Caucus (of the NGO Forum). It was becoming obvious to me by then that missing things was to be a central theme of my conference experience!

Maybe I just had/have a lot to learn about international conferences, but it seemed to me that there were just too many things going on, too much literature being distributed, and too little clear information about what was happening when and where. So, for the first 24 hours that I was at the conference, my principal feelings were of being confused, and overwhelmed.

On my third day (September 1) I determined that my week in Durban would not be lost to the sense of helplessness that was threatening to overcome me, and so I set about learning the rules for coping with an international event of this magnitude. The first thing I came to understand was that I should not rely on the programme that had been printed in advance. What the experts do is go to the various notice boards and information points to find out what is really happening each day. As an accredited media person, I had the added advantage of a well serviced Media Information Centre, where up-to-the-minute news and programmes of events were always available.

My second, and more important, lesson, was that I should not try to catch or read everything. Those seasoned in these matters identify their areas of interest, put on blinkers, and focus exclusively on the events and activities in that area. Of course, for this writer, who takes half an hour to choose between six items on a menu, that was easier said than done! And, because it was my first time at a United Nations world conference, I really did want to take in everything, which proved to be an immense challenge.

Apart from the Youth Summit and NGO Forum, there were a variety of meetings, discussions, symposia, mini-conferences, workshops and other events by various interest groups and human rights organisations. Of particular interest to me was "Voices", a special forum on comparative experiences of racism, chaired by actor/UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover, and extending over almost the entire period of the conference. In addition, there were ongoing demonstrations by ethnic and other minorities from all over the world, including the Dalits of India, the Roma (Gypsies) of Europe, and the indigenous peoples of Australia, the Caribbean and North and South America.

These parallel activities were designed to put all the forms of discrimination, intolerance and, sometimes worse, indifference suffered by social, religious, ethnic and economic minorities on the agenda of the WCAR. Issues like: caste-based discrimination among some religions; landlessness, particularly of indigenous peoples dispossessed by military aggression; reparation, for this and other aspects of colonialism, like slavery; the plight of refugees; all jostled for the attention of the government delegates, and for a place in the final documents coming out of the conference, namely, the Declaration and Programme of Action.

On the other hand, I knew that my principal area of interest was sexual orientation, and I could formulate a reasonably clear plan of action in that regard: 1) attend the satellite conference on "Homophobia - the Racism within: Racism, Homophobia and Human Rights Abuses in Southern Africa" being organised by the Durban Lesbian & Gay Community & Health Centre for Saturday 1st September; 2) participate in the related picket at City Hall afterwards; 3) have a chat with the representatives of the Rainbow Project (TRP) of Namibia, Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), and the African chapter of the International Lesbian & Gay Association (ILGA Africa), to find out what has been happening in their ranks; 4) catch up with Pumi Mtetwa and the Sexual Orientation Caucus and stick to them like glue; 5) browse around and see what else might be of relevance for me.

There was also the cultural programme, most of which - you guessed it! - I missed. However, I was lucky, on the night of Friday, August 31, to catch Busi Mhlongo's second performance for the conference, an electrifying hour and a half at the B. A. T Centre that was, in the words of Michael Jackson's haunting ballad, "gone too soon". And the following night I managed to be present for part of the international (people's) concert at the ABSA Stadium. Miriam Makeba had ended her set just minutes before I got there (the story of my life), and the stage had been taken by a pan-African group whose name I never learnt, with membership drawn from different countries in the region, including South Africa and Mozambique. I enjoyed their very cosmopolitan sound, which seemed to be quite popular with the crowd, and later got to see a relaxed Letta Mbuli and what turned out to be a cameo appearance by Joe Nina (not his fault - the lengthy set changes kept cutting into the time allotted for each performer).

My day 3 fell on a Sunday (September 2), which I take very seriously as my day of rest. In any event, I was already exhausted by the effort to absorb all that I had so far been exposed to, so I took a break and visited with my in-laws (my partner is from Durban) in Umlazi. That experience brought home to me, once again, how welcoming a place South Africa can be, and how much she is able to teach the rest of the world about tolerance.

On Monday September 3 I attended part of a panel discussion on the role of human rights organisations in addressing the issues with which the WCAR was grappling. The delegate from Fiji, the only other nation in the world with a Constitution as liberal and inclusive as South Africa's, spoke about the threat it now faces. One of the parties contesting the upcoming general elections has already promised that, if it wins, it will conduct a substantial review of the Constitution. I recalled from previous news reports that one clause that will definitely receive the axe in that event is the one prohibiting discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation.

On this sobering note I went across to the International Conference Centre (ICC) to witness first hand the deliberations of the Working Group on the Draft Programme of Action. But "ambition must be made of sterner stuff"! I was unceremoniously turned back by the implacable security personnel on the ground that the "general" media were not allowed. I did remember hearing about some special pass that needed to be obtained early each morning for entry into these sessions; needless to say, I never did get the hang of that particular protocol!

The rest of Monday and most of the next day was spent playing "hide and go seek" with the Sexual Orientation Caucus, but I finally pinned them down on the afternoon of the 4th, and stayed with their programme until I left Durban on the night of Wednesday September 5. That programme included a strategy meeting on the Tuesday evening, a demonstration on Wednesday morning, and a presentation to the WCAR plenary at a time on Tuesday/Wednesday that kept changing, but eventually settled at 3 pm on Wednesday.

It was during this period that I finally admitted to myself that I had, up to that point, been somewhat intimidated by the aggressive technology and frenzied activity of the Media Centre. Empowered by the meeting of the Sexual Orientation Caucus, I bravely ventured into the lion's den on Tuesday night, and found a place in the bank of internet-enabled computers that was its centrepiece. I was instantly fascinated by the snippets of conversation I could overhear around me - the interview arrangements with newsmakers, the programme ideas being discussed with producers in distant lands, the stories being filed over the phone - and was struck, not for the first time, by the thought that I was in the middle of something awesome, something of profound importance for the world, something defining, something truly powerful.

I returned to Johannesburg in the wee hours of the morning of Thursday, September 6, somewhat dazed, laden with tons of conference papers to sift through, but enriched by a deeper understanding of the various manifestations of intolerance, and the composition of its victim list. But, most importantly, I took with me a re-affirmation of my own belief that it is possible for us to create a truly just, equal and humane world society. As was asserted in the opening address of Ms. Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary-General of the Conference, all that is required is for each of us to bring to the process, firstly, a generosity of spirit; secondly, flexibility, and a willingness to meet the views of others ; and, finally, a sense of vision.

Reports by Donna Smith about the satellite conference on homophobia, updated on glbt movements in Namibia and Zimbabwe, an interview with former secretary-general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), Phumi Mtetwa will follow soon.