Caste discrimination “clealy falls within my mandate” claimed the newly-appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Racism Mr Mugai, speaking on 16 June 2009 at the end of a short debate on his first report to the Human Rights Council. One week after the landmark conference on untouchability held in London under the auspices of IHEU, an official of the Human Rights Council has finally taken this issue on board. (video added)

The first “World Conference on Untouchability” concluded today [10 June 2009] with the launch of a global initiative against caste discrimination. The conference, organized in London on June 9 and 10 by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), brought together nearly a hundred politicians, academics and grass roots leaders to share successful strategies to combat caste discrimination and help the nearly 250 million victims of Untouchability. The conference declaration, passed unanimously, proposes expanding successful grass roots programmes, improving national legislation, and strengthening UN enforcement mechanisms.

In a new 30-minute film, Swedish film maker Henrik Thome tracks IHEU's International Director Babu Gogineni as he and his colleagues visit a village in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh state, where an independent minded Dalit woman was murdered on the pretext that she was a witch. After meeting the victim's family, they start an educational and media initiative in the region to bring the killers of Bhuvanagiri Somamma to justice. After meeting with rationalist Bikshapathy, whose family was made an outcast by fellow Dalits, the team travels to Bidar town in neighbouring Karnataka state where they join Prof. Narendra Nayak, President of the Federation of Indian Rationalists Associations, and rationalists from Tamil Nadu for some spectacular action. Watch this film which premiered at the IHEU's World Conference on Untouchability in London on 10 June 2009 here.

The BBC has reported on the First World Conference on Untouchability, which opens in London today [9 June 2009]. The report quotes IHEU's Babu Gogineni: "There are Dalit politicians in India, but nothing has changed. The answer is to educate Dalits and empower them."

The first "World Conference on Untouchability" has prompted questions in the House of Commons and the House of Lords about government policy towards the global human rights problem of caste discrimination, which afflicts almost 250 million people in countries from Japan to Nigeria. The questions were raised by Jeremy Corbyn, MP, and Lord Avebury. Both parliamentarians will speak at the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) conference, to be held at Conway Hall Humanist Centre, London, on June 9 and 10.

45th session May 13–27 in Banjul Gambia

Statement by the International Humanist and Ethical Union

Read by: Leo Igwe, IHEU Representative for West Africa: 14 May 2009

Madam Chairperson

The full programme for IHEU’s World Conference on Untouchability has been published. The conference will be held at the Conway Hall Humanist Center, London, on 9 & 10 June 2009. To register for the conference, visit http://www.humanism.org.uk/june2009.

(Pictures added) In IHEU's first statement to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, meeting in Banjul, The Gambia, Leo Igwe has spoken out against caste-based discrimination against Osu people in Nigeria.

Government representatives, activists and experts from around the world will address the first “World Conference on Untouchability” at Conway Hall Humanist Centre, London, UK, on June 9 and 10, 2009. Speakers include political leaders Lord Desai of St. Clement Danes, from the British House of Lords, and Mahendra Paswan, Nepal’s Minister for Land Reform, as well as grassroots campaigners against untouchability, including Babu Gogineni in India and Leo Igwe in Nigeria. The conference is organized by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) to explore a problem that afflicts nearly 250 million people in countries from Japan to Nigeria.

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