“Sport is a universal activity that can reaffirm our fundamental human rights,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the Day.

He noted that despite much progress, racism remains a pervasive menace to individuals and ethnic and religious groups worldwide, a threat to stability and a grave violation of human rights.

The Day is an opportunity to highlight the “sharp contrast between the positive values of sports and the despicable incidents of racism that scar even some professional competitions,” he noted.

“The international community has an obligation to work for equality and non-discrimination, and we can advance progress by promoting these values through sports,” Ban added.

In addition, a group of United Nations independent experts urged governments to declare zero tolerance to racism expressions and discrimination in sport.

“We call on States and sports authorities in different parts of the world to intensify the fight against racism through awareness creation, and by imposing appropriate sanctions on clubs and individuals who propagate racial hatred, abuse and violence,” said Mutuma Ruteere, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The head of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Alexei Avtonomov, said it is also up to local communities to counter racism when fans use racist slurs, gestures and even violence to demean and attack their opponents or players of the opposite team.

“When such an incident occurs, swift action must be taken, not only by public authorities to condemn it and to hold those responsible to account, but also by the community at large to stand in solidarity against all forms of racial discrimination,” said Avtonomov.

The Day is marked annually on 21 March on the anniversary of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, during which 69 unarmed demonstrators were killed when South African police opened fire on a protest against the country’s apartheid laws.

“Racial discrimination, xenophobia and stigmatisation faced in particular by people of African descent must be addressed at the community, national and international levels,” said Verene Shepherd, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.

She added that people of African descent should be recognized for their contributions not only to sports, but also to the development, diversity and richness of world civilizations and cultures.

Independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific human rights themes.

Of these 140 million girls, 50 million will be under the age of 15, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which added that young girls who marry before the age of 18 have a greater risk of becoming victims of intimate partner violence than those who marry later.

“Child marriage is an appalling violation of human rights and robs girls of their education, health and long-term prospects,” said UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin. “A girl who is married as a child is one whose potential will not be fulfilled. Since many parents and communities also want the very best for their daughters, we must work together and end child marriage.”

Child marriage is increasingly recognized as a violation of the rights of girls as it interferes with their education, blocks their opportunity to gain vocational and life skills, and increases their risk to sexual violence as well as their chances to contract HIV.

“No girl should be robbed of her childhood, her education and health, and her aspirations. Yet today millions of girls are denied their rights each year when they are married as child brides,” said the Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Michelle Bachelet.

In addition, child marriage also exposes girls to the risks of child-bearing at an early age, which can have fatal consequences. According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death for girls aged 15-19 years in developing countries. Still births and newborn deaths are also 50 per cent higher among mothers under 20 than in women who get pregnant in their 20s.

“Child marriage makes girls far more vulnerable to the profound health risks of early pregnancy and childbirth – just as their babies are more vulnerable to complications associated with premature labour,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

While 158 countries have set the legal age for marriage at 18 years, laws are rarely enforced since the practice of marrying young children is upheld by tradition and social norms. The practice is most common in rural sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

These issues are the focus of a special session on child marriage being held today by the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. Strategies to be discussed include supporting and enforcing legislation to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18 years; providing equal access to quality primary and secondary education for girls and boys; mobilizing girls, boys, parents and leaders to change practices that discriminate against girls; providing girls who are already married with options for schooling, employment and sexual and reproductive health information and services; and addressing the root causes of child marriage, including poverty, gender inequality and discrimination.

Currently, the 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are: Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Guinea, Mozambique, Mali, Burkina Faso, South Sudan, and Malawi. However, in terms of absolute numbers, because of the size of its population, India has the most child marriages – in 47 per cent of all marriages there, the bride is a child.