As the world commemorated International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (International Anti-Racism Day) on 21 March, as it has done since 1966 to highlight the need to double efforts against racism, South Africa went against the grain by commemorating the day as national Human Rights Day.
The world commemorates Human Rights Day on December 10, the day of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, regarded as the international Bill of Rights. Globally, 21 March was commemorated under the UN theme, A Decade of Recognition, Justice and Development: Implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent.