DePaul University will be one of nine sites around the world participating in a global discussion of racial discrimination in a unique videoconference at 9:15 a.m. Dec. 7 at 25 E. Jackson Blvd., room 1311. The United-Nations sponsored conference will originate live from a regional meeting for the Americas in Santiago, Chile, with panelists also located at UN headquarters in New York.

The discussion will focus on global human rights issues and help lay the groundwork for a world conference to address human rights issues such as racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. Panelists from Santiago will include Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile; Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the former president of Ireland; Jyoti Singh, executive coordinator of the UN- sponsored Conference Against Racism. Panelists from the UN in New York will include Paul Hoeffel, chief of the Non-Government Organization (NGO) Section, Department of Public Information; and Techeste Ahderom, chairman of the NGO Committee on Human Rights and a representative to the United Nations’ Baha’i International Community.

Attending the conference will be human rights advocates from throughout Chicago including representatives from assorted NGOs and the Chicago Commission on Human Relations. Other cities participating in the discussion with the United Nations in New York and Santiago are Buenos Aires, Geneva, Mexico City, San Francisco, Santa Fe de Bogotá in Columbia, and Vienna. The discussion will originate in English with simultaneous interpretations in Spanish and French. The panel will address questions from the discussion participants at the different sites around the globe.

“This unique videoconference will bring the world to the table to talk about key human rights issues that have a global impact,” said Pat Szczerba, a professor in the School for New Learning at DePaul and manager of the United Nations Videoconference Program in DePaul’s Office of Distance Learning. “It is especially important because it will highlight viewpoints from around the globe that can be discussed in greater detail as people prepare for the conference against racism which will be held in South Africa August 31 to September 7, 2001.”