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The Government is now inviting public views on the state of implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
A Home Affairs Bureau spokesman said today (December 6) that the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China will submit its combined Tenth to Thirteenth Periodic Report under the Convention to the United Nations in 2007.
In accordance with this timetable, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been requested to prepare its report under the Convention for incorporation as part of Mainland China's report.
In line with established practice, the Government is seeking public views before the report is written. To facilitate public comments on the range of issues covered by the Convention, the Government has prepared a bilingual outline for the report.
"To ensure timely submission, we are seeking public comments by January 8, 2007," the spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the HKSAR report will be submitted to the Central People's Government, through the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in March 2007.
Members of the public who would like to express their views can write to the Secretary for Home Affairs, Home Affairs Bureau, 31st floor, Southorn Centre, 130 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong.
Copies of the outline of the report can be obtained from the Home Affairs Bureau and District Offices.
The bilingual outline is also available on the Home Affairs Bureau homepage (www.hab.gov.hk) on the Internet.
Ends/Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:24
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