Hawaii-2023-SCR173-Introduced

WHEREAS, the United Nations (UN) created the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which was adopted in December 1965 by UN General Assembly 2016 and entered into force in January 1969; and

WHEREAS, the UN Charter is centered on the principles of dignity and equality inherent in all human beings and all citizens of the world, and committed to promoting and encouraging universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all; and

WHEREAS, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set out therein, without distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, color, or national origin; and

WHEREAS, the UN has condemned colonization in all its forms and all practices of apartheid, segregation, and discrimination, as enshrined in multiple declarations from the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and

WHEREAS, the term "racial discrimination" means any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, or any other field of public life; and

WHEREAS, states should adopt immediate and effective measures, particularly in the fields of teaching, education, culture, and information, with a view to combating prejudices that lead to racial discrimination and to promoting understanding, tolerance, and friendship among nations and racial or ethnical groups, as well as to propagating the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and

WHEREAS, the United States appeared at the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 107th Session on August 11 and 12 at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; and

WHEREAS, the eighteen expert members of the UN CERD adopted dozens of recommendations based on the six-hour interaction between the United States government and CERD rooted on discussions with directly impacted peoples and civil society representatives; and

WHEREAS, the CERD members selected three specific recommendations around human rights for the United States government to report on at the 110th Session, which were centered around indigenous peoples, migrations, and reproductive rights; and

WHEREAS, the realization of the recommendations will improve and produce a positive impact in Hawai‘i and the United States; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i should update and undertake new creative curriculum around human rights and justice; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i is an island state with a multicultural population from around the world that recognizes the ancestral wisdom of cherishing the natural environment; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i was considered as a potential host site for the UN headquarters to serve as a global diplomatic hub; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i recently hosted its 18th annual Human Rights Day to illuminate important and imminent issues at the international and island levels and review all recommendations ranging from the UN human rights mechanisms and global environmental and climate agreements; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i was designed as America's first human rights state by House Resolution No. 194, which was adopted by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i, Regular Session of 2014; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i was the first state to conduct a voluntary local review at the UN and will conduct its historic second voluntary local review at the UN's High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals Summit at UN headquarters in New York and share its local strategies regarding the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals through the Aloha+ Challenge; and

WHEREAS, civil society, nonprofit associations, and non-governmental organizations can generate solutions and share strategies providing concise, complete contributions to realize human rights in Hawai‘i and Moananuiākea; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i maintains momentum in cultivating a culture of human rights, rule of law, sustainable development, and global justice, partnering with city and county councils, as well as leadership from state agencies and elected public officials, to maintain the human rights movement in Hawai‘i; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, among other executive departments, is requested to implement the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States; Vice President of the United States; Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; Majority Leader of the United States Senate; United States Department of State, Social Presidential Envoy for Climate; United Nations' Secretary General; United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights; Hawai‘i's congressional delegation; Governor; and Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

United Nations; Convention; Racial Discrimination; Implementation

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	173
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII