A global call for concrete action for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action A/RES/77/205 therefore require a united and comprehensive response from the international community, Expressing concern at the loss of life and livelihoods and the disruption to economies and societies caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and its negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, disproportionately affecting certain individuals, including those facing racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, which the pandemic has highlighted and exposed, including underlying deep and long -standing structural inequalities and fundamental problems in various areas of social, economic, civil and political life, and its exacerbation of existing inequ alities, and recalling that systemic and structural racism and racial discrimination further exacerbate inequality in access to health care and treatment, leading to racial disparities in health outcomes and a higher rate of mortality and morbidity among individuals and groups facing racial discrimination, Noting with concern the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the existing inequalities within our societies and regretting that, in that context, persons belonging to racial and ethnic minorities and to other groups, including Asians and people of Asian descent, especially women and girls, have been victims of racist violence, threats of violence, discrimination and stigmatization, Recalling the three Decades for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination previously declared by the General Assembly, and regretting that the Programmes of Action for those Decades were not fully implemented and that their objectives have yet to be attained, Noting that the seventy-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 9 and the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action 10 will be commemorated in 2023, and stressing in this regard the importance of fully integrating the matter of combating racism into these commemorations, Stressing in this respect the need to also address negative stereotypes, stigmatization and the assigning of identity based on race as essential in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Reiterating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the potential to contribute constructively to the development and well -being of their societies, and that any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and must be rejected, together with theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races, Underlining the intensity, magnitude and organized nature of slavery and the slave trade, including the transatlantic slave trade, and the associated historical injustices, as well as the untold suffering caused by colonialism and apartheid, and that Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent and Indigenous Peoples continue to be victims, and acknowledging that the ongoing effects must be remedied, Acknowledging the efforts and initiatives undertaken by States to prohibit racial discrimination and racial segregation and to engender the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights, Emphasizing that, despite efforts in this regard, millions of human beings continue to be victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related __________________ 9 10 22-28931 Resolution 217 A (III). A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III. 3/10