AYC pledges to assist UN

Accra, April 10, GNA- The Governing Council of the African Youth Command (AYC) had tasked the United Nations (UN) to use its agencies to address issues of discrimination worldwide.

It said March 21 every year, a day set aside to observe the International Day for Elimination of Discrimination is an occasion that must be used by UN agencies to create awareness against racial, tribal, clan and religious discrimination.

"We on our part have declared March 21 of each succeeding year a day against racial, tribal, clan and religious discrimination and are going to mount public awareness in all our 33-members of the 53 Member States of the African Union (AU)."

This was contained in statement issued on Thursday and signed by Alhaji Yakubu Salley, General Secretary of AYC.

The statement, addressed to Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, UN, was copied to some Ministers of state, the Country Director, UNDP; the Director, US Information Centre, Accra, the Secretary General OATUU, said: "We are on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination appealing to the political, economic, religious, tribal and clan leaders through you, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Organisations, to assist you to fight and eliminate racial discrimination in any form."

The statement noted that all over the world, people suffered from daily discrimination of one form or the other, and asked all peace loving people throughout the world to assist in eliminating all forms of discrimination. It said, on the African continent, racial and tribal discrimination, particularly in Somalia, were the principal root cause of the civil conflicts and social instability.