UN launched Friday the United Nations Action Plan to Enhance Monitoring and Response to Antisemitism. The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) developed the Action Plan, aiming to ensure a more coordinated and effective response to antisemitism.

The Action Plan outlines comprehensive global antisemitism prevention strategies, with a focus on monitoring, training, advocacy, and stakeholder collaboration. The important steps in the Action Plan include establishing a monitoring group, training UN personnel to recognize and respond to antisemitism, fostering partnerships with Jewish and interfaith organizations, incorporating antisemitism countermeasures into UN policies, promoting Holocaust education, and engaging in public advocacy campaigns.

The Action Plan also encourages legal frameworks, digital platform accountability, youth education, and public awareness campaigns to promote diversity, inclusion, and human rights.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his foreword to the action plan, underscores the persistent threat of antisemitism and its rise in modern times, calling for collective action to combat hatred, Holocaust denial, and discrimination. He adds:

I intend to develop new initiatives in this regard. And we must strive to create communities, countries, and institutions grounded in respect for diversity and human rights for all… This Plan builds on those efforts, recommending ways we can further enhance and coordinate our work. No form of prejudice or hatred should find a home anywhere. We will not rest until they have been banished for good.

Furthermore, High Representative for UNAOC Miguel Ángel Moratinos highlights in his preface the urgency of addressing antisemitism as a growing global challenge. Moratinos emphasizes that despite UN efforts, such as education and promoting human rights, existing measures have been insufficient to curb antisemitism. He adds:

This United Nations Action Plan proposes a way forward for the organization to address antisemitism in a cohesive manner. Building on emblematic policies, frameworks and actions taken by United Nations actors to address antisemitism, including through education, it proposes a set of recommendations to enhance the United Nations’ response to combating antisemitism.

According to Tel Aviv University’s Antisemitism Worldwide Report for 2023, antisemitic incidents increased globally in 2023, fueled by the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and ongoing tensions, with significant increases occurring prior to these events. In the US, bomb threats against Jewish institutions increased tenfold, disrupting communities and instilling fear.

Furthermore, while many countries provide antisemitism data, nations such as Hungary, Romania and Poland lack transparency, making informed responses difficult.