On 26 March, the Equal Rights Trust and the UN Human Rights Office co-convened a panel discussion at the 148th annual InterParliamentary Union Assembly in Geneva, on the need for states to enact comprehensive and effective anti-discrimination laws.

Entitled Protecting minority rights: Towards comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, the event included presentations on by the Trust’s Director, Jim Fitzgerald, and Claude Cahn of the UN Human Rights Office the development and contents of the UN Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation, which the two organisations co-published in 2022. Alongside the co-authors of the Guide, the panel included presentations by parliamentarians from South Africa and Bangladesh.

Hon. Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, is a distinguished MP and the chief whip of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) in the National Assembly of South Africa. Hon. Kwanka spoke about the process for the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination law and the impact which the law has had. South Africa is one of the first countries to have enacted comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, having adopted the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act in 2000.

Hon. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury became the first female speaker of the parliament Bangladesh in 2013 at the age of 46, the youngest to hold the position. Hon Chaudhury spoke about the active discussions underway in Bangladesh about the need for comprehensive anti-discrimination law.

The event was chaired by Yvonne Apiyo Brandle-Amolo, a Member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party in Switzerland, and was attended by legislators from more than 15 different countries, ranging from Bolivia to Norway to Thailand.