At Rotary, we are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect, allowing everyone’s voice to be heard, and providing equitable opportunities for fellowship, service and leadership.
Connecting the Dots between DEI and Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene
March is Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene month.
Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life.
When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families. Through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programmes, Rotary’s people of action mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change, which in turn bring about equity and inclusion in the world around us.
Certain Rotary Clubs in Hong Kong jointly sponsored the 5G STEM AI Water Filter Design Competition, which aimed to provide youngsters with a platform to counteract the problems of water pollution and scarcity of water resources through the application of science and technology. Rotary Clubs and partners in other parts of the world also strived to provide regular supply of clean water to underprivileged people, including access to proper toilet facilities.
“WHY DEI MATTERS?” SERIES
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March)
Racial discrimination and the legacies of slavery and colonialism continue to destroy lives and curtail opportunities, preventing billions of people from enjoying their full human rights and freedoms.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid “pass laws” in 1960.
In 1979, the General Assembly of the United Nations decided that all its Member States would observe a week of solidarity with the peoples struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on 21 March each year.
Since then, the apartheid system in South Africa has been dismantled. Racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries, and we have built an international framework for fighting racism, guided by the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Convention is now nearing universal ratification, yet still, in all regions, too many individuals, communities and societies suffer from the injustice and stigma that racism brings.
The United Nations General Assembly reiterates 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. In its most recent resolution, the General Assembly also emphasized 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.
The United Nations has been concerned with this issue since its foundation and the prohibition of racial discrimination is enshrined in all core international human rights instruments. It places obligations on Member States and tasks them with eradicating discrimination in the public and to adopt special measures to eliminate conditions that cause or help to perpetuate racial discrimination.
Racial Discrimination in Hong Kong and Elimination Measures
Hong Kong is renowned as a multi-cultural city and has been a place of settlement for foreigners, especially those in the region. Many of these ethnic minority residents have been in Hong Kong for generations, including members of the Indian troops and the Nepali Gurkha brigade during the British colonial era, and the Indian and other merchants coming for trading in the early days.
Despite their effort to build a home in Hong Kong, some of the ethnic minority residents have been marginalised due to language barrier and biases. These in turn restrict their education and employment opportunities, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty and restricting their upward social mobility.
According to information from the Equal Opportunities Commission, school attendance rate was relatively lower among ethnic minorities, particularly for those aged 18-24 (post-secondary). Around 40% of ethnic minorities or non-Chinese-speaking students studied in schools with over 70% of non-Chinese-speaking students, meaning that they continued to face barriers in integrating into the mainstream community.
In terms of employment, the majority of the working ethnic minorities were engaged in “elementary occupations”, which was noticeably more than the proportion for the whole working population. It is also common for ethnic minorities to encounter discrimination when they obtain goods and services. Some property owners even refused to lease their apartments to ethnic minorities.
Race Discrimination Ordinance(Cap. 602) (“RDO”)
Hong Kong has been working on elimination of racial discrimination through enactment of the RDO, which protects people against discrimination, harassment, and vilification on the ground of their race. Victimisation is also unlawful under the RDO. “Race” means the race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin of a person. Under the RDO, it is unlawful to discriminate, harass or vilify a person on the ground of his/her race in prescribed areas of activities, including employment, education, provision of goods, services and/or facilities, disposal and/or management of premises, eligibility to vote for and to stand for election to public bodies, etc., and participation in clubs.
Protection is extended in respect of discrimination on the ground of race by imputation. It is unlawful for a person who discriminates against or harasses another person on the basis of a mistaken perception of the race of the other person.
The RDO renders racial harassment between workplace participants at a common workplace unlawful, even where there is no employment or employment-like relationship between them.
In relation to the provision of goods, services and/or facilities, the RDO protects service providers from racial harassment by customers (and vice versa).
The elimination of racial discrimination relies not only on the legal framework, but requires the effort of everyone in our daily lives.
