We, women NGO representatives from the African, Asia-Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean regions attending the 45th Session of the UN Committee on the Status of Women would like to note the common concerns of our regions with respect to racism, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The roots of contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance which is located in the legacy of patriarchal colonialism and slavery, and based on the ideology of racial superiority, were and continue to beresponsible for historical and contemporary injustice. For example, patriarchal colonialism intensified internal dynamics of ethnic-, religious-, gender-, caste- and class-based dominance within the formerly colonised nations of the South and continue to do so in countries that are currently being colonised. Contemporary situations of ethnic-, religious-, gender-, caste-, class-, and race-based conflict in the nations of the South areat least in part the result of:

· the legacy of slavery and forced migration of indentured labour;

· the deliberate politics of divide and rule under colonialism;

· the pitting of different ethnic, religious and racial communities against each other during colonialism;

· the preferential treatment of communities that "cooperated" with colonialists under colonialism; and

· the arbitrary creation of nation-states based on colonial boundaries.

Women of the South have always been the trade-off in colonial and post-colonial discussions and debate on racism. The colonialists used women of the South in attempts to legitimise their domination. And cultural and religious nationalism developed in response to colonialism and its legacy continues to use women of the South to assert that nationalism.

This history, and its continuing resonance in the hegemony of the North in all aspects of the international political-economy, needs to be recognized and addressed within the framework of the 45th Session of the United Nations Commission of the Status of Women and the recommendations that it will make to the World Conference Against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance.

We therefore make a strong call on all UN Member States to:

With respect to the International Community:

· Take historical cognisance of the unacknowledged crimes against humanity committed by those member states which benefited from the transatlantic slave trade and from colonialism by supporting calls from the South for compensatory measures and other forms of redress for these crimes;

· Recognise the intersectionality of gender and race in matters relating to the negative impact of international finance, trade and investment lawincluding international law on the nationalisation of propertyon women of the South by supporting calls for debt cancellation instead of the highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative;

· Acknowledge the intersectionality of gender and race in matters relating to the impact of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) and enhanced structural adjustment programmes (ESAPs) by questioning the continuance of conditionalities with respect to social serviceseconomic and social rightsof the poverty reduction strategy process (PRSP) which amount only to a third phase of structural adjustment for women of the South;

· Acknowledge the legacy of colonialism in intergovernmental agencies including UN agencies and treaty bodies and intensify institutional reforms that will rectify the unequal power relationships amongst Member States as well as internally.

With respect to Indigenous Peoples, including Hunter-Gatherers and Pastoralists:

· Take action to enable indigenous people's rights to self-determination be realised and to reform and provide redress from a gender-responsive perspective for the inherently racist legislation policies and programmes that have displaced, marginalised and discriminated against indigenous peoples and that have contributed towards the decimation of their cultures and livelihoods, the denial of their communal and customary land rights and their heightened vulnerability to racism, xenophobia and related intolerance;

· Recognise and respect the diversity of human cultures and livelihoods, develop legislative and policy mechanisms that encourage the flourishing and sustainability of these diversities rather than their curtailment in the name of development or national unity;

With respect to Migrants and Trafficked Persons:

· Define migrants so as to refer to those who have been historically disadvantaged by colonialism in countries of the South;

· Sign, ratify and domesticate the International Convention of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families which calls for the protection of the rights of migrant workers in the overdeveloped nations of the North and migrant workers from the South to more affluent nations of the South;

· Recognise the positive economic, political and social roles and contributions of migrant workers from the South, and ensure their full cultural, economic, political and social participation as an essential element in the elimination of all forms of discrimination;

· Create and enforce institutions and mechanisms, that involve governments, non governmental organizations and grassroots groups, that protect against and prevent gender- and race-based violence against migrants and trafficked persons from the South in both transit and host countries, in situations of custody and incarceration, and in the context of repatriation;

· Promote and protect the health and reproductive rights of migrant women workers and trafficked persons from the South, including providing access to adequate reproductive and basic health services, occupational safety measures and the provision of information of occupational safety and health;

· Provide adequate legal redress for migrant workers and trafficked persons from the South who experience gender- and race-based discrimination and violence in host countries;

With respect to Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees:

· Recognize that the vast majority of internally displaced persons and refugees in situations of armed conflict and nuclear arms testing are women from communities that are marginalised on the basis of class, ethnic, racial, caste and religious grounds;

· Acknowledge and provide redress to people who have been internally displaced as a result of profit-driven and market-oriented large scale development projects in particular women from indigenous and other minority groups who lost their culture and livelihoods.

· Recognise gender-based violence as a human rights violation and as adequate grounds for seeking asylum according to the Refugee Convention;

· Ensure the equal access of internally displaced women as well as refugee women in transit and resettlement countries to safe housing, culturally appropriate health services, legal counsel, education, social security and other social services as a integral step in the elimination of racial and gender-based discrimination;

· Update the United Nations High Commission on Refugees' definition of refugees and individual status determination procedure to ensure that the rights of people who are evicted by ethnic violence and of women at risk are protected; and

· Support the better integration of women of the South in refugee camp management and policy-making and systems for relief and rehabilitation.

We thank you.

(Working document of African, Asia-Pacific and Latin American and Caribbean Women's Caucuses in preparation for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance )