Activities undertaken

Official Inauguration of the International Year for People of African Descent at the OAS, United States, 2010

February 22, 2011, saw the official inauguration at OAS headquarters of the “International Year for People of African Descent” (2011). The event also served to launch a publication of the Department of International Law of the Secretariat for Legal Affairs entitled “Expert Workshop on People of African Descent in the Americas,” which is a compilation of the various presentations made at the workshop held last year.

The ceremony was held in the Museum of the Americas. On behalf of the Secretary General, Dante Negro, Director of the Department of International Law, addressed government experts on Afro-descendant issues from several countries, ambassadors from the permanent missions of different member states of the Organization, as well as delegates from various missions, representatives of civil society organizations involved in African descendant issues, and officials and staff of the General Secretariat, among others.

It is hoped that this book will be made available to civil society organizations involved in Afro-descendant issues, organs of the OAS and the inter-American system, as well as the community at large. An electronic version of the publication will be released in due course, in the hopes of reaching every corner of the Americas.