IDSN and the United Nations

In a resolution adopted at its 52nd session, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (SC) explicitly recognised the global dimensions of the problem and declared that caste discrimination was prohibited by international human rights law. CERD has repeatedly affirmed that caste, as a form of descent-based discrimination, falls within the definition of racial discrimination under article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

In August 2002, CERD adopted an historic document focusing on discrimination based on 'caste and analogous systems of inherited status'. The document - General Recommendation no. 29 - addresses discrimination based on caste and other forms of inherited status in the areas of employment, education, housing and the administration of justice, as well as from the perspectives of women and children and in the use of the media.

READ MORE ABOUT:

Review of caste-affected countries in the UN Treaty Bodies

OHCHR requests input from Governments, National Human Rights Institutions, UN bodies and specialised agencies, UN Special Procedures and NGOs on discrimination based on work and descent

Sub-Commission adopts resolution on discrimination based on work and descent

First report on discrimination based on work and descent by Sub-Commission experts submitted

Dalits break through the UN wall of silence