While the speeches of world leaders dominated the debates, it was the quieter voices of the victims which shouted victory from Durban.
That was the view of Sister Joan Roddy, co-ordinator of the refugee project run by the Irish Commission for Peace and Justice, who returned from South Africa yesterday with an overall, though not exclusively, positive view of the conference.
For Sister Roddy, the daily victims' forum, in which survivors of racist regimes from all corners of the world told of their experiences, spoke volumes more than the bickering and brinkmanship of the politicians.
"So many issues were brought out in the open. The oppression and suffering of so many people have come out eventually, loudly and clearly, on the world stage", she said.
"Dalits [the lowest caste in India], Roma, Travellers, groups which did not have a chance to speak out before in that kind of forum, have had their voices heard, so we can never go back and never deny what has happened to them."
But Sister Roddy acknowledges that the victims, and the millions more they represent, were supposed to get something more than simply a platform. The Durban declaration fell short of censuring countries pursuing racist policies or of identifying tangible ways of making amends, and it failed to take a strong stand on Israel, something Sister Roddy says was "a dream rather than a hope".
She added: "I think one of the reasons the document is weak and agreement was difficult is that we are not ready to take all of this on board. We are almost threatened by it."
Mr Colm O Cuanachain, co-ordinator of Comhlamh, the association of development workers, which had two representatives in Durban, also recognised the limits of the achievements there.
"We are all disappointed that two major issues were allowed to dog the conference, but the fact that there was compromise at all is something," he said.
"What we have seen for the first time in the Durban declaration is recognition in an international text of the right to non-discrimination and equality for all ethnic minorities. That represents progress."
Amnesty International's Irish branch said that the conference represented a "reality check" which was long overdue. Last week it published a survey of Ireland's black and ethnic minority groups which revealed a disturbing level of racist behaviour among the indigenous population.
"Durban has shown how far behind some governments are in dealing with racism. The Irish Government is one of them. Our survey was at odds with the picture presented by John O'Donoghue [the Minister for Justice] and that was clear for all to see", said Amnesty's head of communications, Mr Brian Dooley.