Nairobi — United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has warned that racial discrimination continues to shape access to jobs, healthcare, housing and justice for Africans and people of African descent, calling for reparatory justice to confront the enduring effects of slavery and colonialism.
Türk said systemic racism was being reinforced by institutions, economic inequalities and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, warning that historical injustices continued to influence who holds power and who is excluded from opportunities.
“Artificial intelligence and other technologies, and we have been very vocal about this, are already reproducing human biases. If we are not careful, they could deepen systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent,” Türk said in a keynote address to a high-level dialogue on reparatory justice in Geneva on Thursday.
He also raised concerns about policing and criminal justice systems, saying police in different regions were several times more likely to use force against people of African descent, who are also disproportionately represented in prisons in many countries.
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“The demographic composition of prisons is a signal of who we are excluding,” he said.
Türk argued that the consequences of slavery, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism extended beyond historical grievances, continuing to influence economic opportunity, political representation and access to essential services.
He cited persistent poverty, discrimination in employment and housing, unequal treatment in healthcare and the underestimation of students’ abilities in schools as examples of racism experienced in everyday life.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also linked historical exploitation to present-day global economic inequalities, noting that many developing countries, including former colonies, faced unsustainable debt that constrained investment in domestic priorities.
He called for reforms to the international financial architecture to ease debt pressures and give African countries a greater voice in decisions affecting the global economy.
Historical wrongs
Türk said reparatory justice should not be understood solely as financial compensation, but as a broader process of acknowledging historical wrongs, addressing their continuing consequences and preventing future discrimination.
“Reparatory justice takes many forms and must not be confused with financial compensation alone,” he said.
He outlined measures including formal apologies, truth-seeking initiatives, memorials, the restitution of cultural artefacts, compensation, education and medical and psychosocial support for communities affected by intergenerational trauma.
Türk cited actions by several countries to confront their histories of slavery and colonialism, including apologies, memorialisation projects and the return of cultural objects to their countries of origin.
However, he cautioned that such efforts remained insufficient, saying no State had fully accounted for historical harms or contemporary systemic racism.
He also highlighted gaps in legal protections, saying many countries still lacked anti-racism legislation and fewer than a quarter had comprehensive anti-discrimination laws.
Türk called for stronger implementation of existing laws and targeted investment to remove barriers to quality healthcare, housing, education, justice and employment.
African voices
The UN rights chief said Africans and people of African descent, particularly women, must be at the centre of decisions on reparatory justice to ensure that responses address the needs of affected communities.
He urged governments to confront their histories through public apologies, truth-telling initiatives and more inclusive teaching of history in schools and universities.
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He also called for greater African representation in international decision-making and stronger action on climate justice, arguing that Africans and people of African descent face some of the harshest effects of climate change.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is supporting governments seeking to advance reparatory justice and has developed tools to guide such efforts. Türk said his office was also launching an explainer on apologies as one measure in the reparatory process.
He concluded by warning that historical discrimination should not determine the prospects of future generations.
“A child born in 2026 should not have to carry the weight of centuries of racial discrimination and the horrors of the past,” Türk said.
“When we repair harms, we do more than reckon with history. We help dismantle the foundations of systemic racism.”
