In 1966, the year I was born, the UN passed Resolution 2142 (XXI) that reads:

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid “pass laws”. Proclaiming the Day in 1966, the General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. 

Links are here and here. 

I can argue both sides of this. On the one hand, there’s international recognition of race-based systemic discrimination (which is a mild word for events that have transpired both in the past and since that resolution was adopted), but on the other hand, it’s been 43 years since it was adopted and what changes have happened as a result?

Colonialism, imperialism and genocide of Indigenous peoples continues to happen in Canada, and “racial discrimination” would be the mildest, blandest, most whitewashed way to describe that ongoing disgrace. 

The problem with UN resolutions is there is no force or power to make countries adopt pro-active measures, to compel countries to prioritize resources for this and other initiatives, which would benefit the poorest and most marginalized. We need radical change, and we need it now. Technically we needed it decades ago, but that time machine project is still not working out for me.