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In an effort to better track its own demographic shifts and combat racial discrimination, France will consider conducting a national census that will account for race and ethnicity for the first time.

In France, unlike the U.S. and the U.K., it is illegal for the government to classify people by race, ethnicity, and religion, though it does make distinctions among native and foreign-born French citizens and noncitizen foreigners.

Yazid Sabeg, a close advisor to French President Nicholas Sarkozy, is leading an effort to change that policy. Sabeg recently told the BBC that data collection on minorities in France is "essential to measure how effective are official policies combating discrimination."

But opponents say that the plan would violate basic ideals of equality and conjures up memories of Nazi-generated lists used to exterminate millions of Jews during World War II.

Sabeg says that it's important to recognize how France has transformed. "People find it hard to look the reality of this country in the face, which is that the population of the country has changed," Sabeg said.

In 2005, riots in suburban Paris made international headlines and highlighted rampant unemployment, improper policing, and housing problems among second- and third-generation immigrant youth that many attributed to institutional discrimination.

The U.S. census does collect data on race and ethnicity.  Census data is used to track racial disparities in employment, homeownership, and health care, which helps the federal government distribute funds to communities as needed and enforce civil rights laws against discrimination like the Voting Rights Act.   

The next U.S. census will take place in April 2010. 

On Tuesday, the Obama administration reversed a key Bush decision by announcing it will run for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. The 47 members of the council are elected by the U.N. General Assembly from among all the countries that are members of the U.N.

The State Department explained that by seeking election to the council "we can make the council a more effective forum to promote and protect human rights. We hope to work in partnership with many countries to achieve a more effective council."

Established in 2006, the U.N. Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body designed to monitor compliance with human rights treaties and promote the protection of human rights around the globe. Members of the council are elected to three-year staggered terms.

Critics of the U.N. have said that the council's predecessor, the Human Rights Commission, allowed some countries such as Sudan to block scrutiny of their own human rights records and that the council is mired in the same problems. That was one of the reasons why President Bush considered the council too flawed to merit U.S. participation.

However, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon praised the announcement and noted that full "United States engagement on human rights issues is an important step towards realizing the goal of an inclusive and vibrant intergovernmental process to protect human rights around the globe."

On March 17, President Obama announced that he will formerly support a United Nations statement that calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide. 

Though it is non-binding, the statement acknowledges that LGBT people around the world are subject to "violence, harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice" and states that human rights "apply equally to every human being regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity." It is the first time the U.N. General Assembly has formally addressed human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

When the declaration was introduced to the U.N. General Assembly in December 2008, it was supported by 66 U.N. member nations. The U.S. was the only western country that didn't sign the statement at that time. Former President Bush opposed the declaration, arguing that it raised legal questions that required further review.

Currently, nearly 70 U.N. member nations have laws banning homosexuality. And in some countries, homosexuality can be punished by execution.

Today is the first annual United Nations (U.N.) World Day of Social Justice.

Member countries that celebrate the day are holding events that uphold the goals of the U.N.'s World Summit for Social Development, which include ending poverty, encouraging the full inclusion of every citizen in society, and striving to provide full employment and gender equality.

"Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants.  We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability."

The U.N. is commemorating the first World Day of Social Justice by convening an interactive-panel discussion entitled "Social Justice for a Fair Globalization," which brings together international leaders to discuss the importance of social justice and the challenges in achieving a more just society.