India's constitutional commitment to equality highlighted at UNHRC
Geneva, October 7
Sveva Fosca Martina Orifici, representing Sambhali Trust, addressed the 63rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting the need to strengthen efforts against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance.
In her oral intervention, Orifici focused on the Indian context and underlined the importance of equality, inclusion, education and community participation in addressing discrimination.
She said discrimination is not always expressed openly and can also emerge through everyday experiences, including the exclusion of children because of their names, language, appearance or community, or situations where families feel unwelcome in society.
Orifici highlighted India's constitutional commitment to equality before the law and protection against discrimination. She stressed that constitutional guarantees must translate into meaningful experiences of dignity and equal treatment in people's daily lives.
Referring to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, she emphasised that combating racism and related forms of intolerance requires more than legal safeguards, with education, inclusion and participation also playing a crucial role.
Drawing from Sambhali Trust's grassroots work in Rajasthan, Orifici highlighted the role of schools, community organisations and public institutions in preventing social exclusion. She said early intervention, human-rights education and respectful engagement with communities can help address prejudice before it develops into deeper forms of discrimination.
She also underlined the need to ensure that rural, remote and socially or economically disadvantaged communities have effective access to public institutions and essential services.
According to her intervention, geographical and institutional barriers can further deepen exclusion, making it important to take human-rights protections and public services closer to communities beyond major urban centres.
Orifici called for greater human-rights education, fair access to services, community dialogue and meaningful participation of affected communities in policy formulation and implementation.
She stressed that communities facing discrimination should not be viewed merely as beneficiaries, but should be actively involved in shaping policies and programmes intended to address their concerns.
— ANI
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