Media Center

Press Release

OAS Permanent Council Celebrated the Launch of the International Decade for People of African Descent

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today celebrated the start of the International Decade for People of African Descent during a special meeting in which experts from different countries of the region presented their visions and strategies on how the commemoration can contribute to the advancement of the objectives set in the fight against racism and discrimination in the Americas.

The meeting, chaired by the Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the OAS, Neil Parsan, began with a presentation by the OAS Assistant Secretary General, Albert Ramdin, who said that the issue of the rights of Afro-descendents has been incorporated into all the pillars of the OAS and recalled that the General Secretariat “is implementing programs to build capacities among people of African descent to participate in public policy formulation at the national and regional levels, promote their social and human development, protect their human rights, and strengthen their public security.”

Ambassador Ramdin recalled that since 2005, the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and against Racial Discrimination of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights “has worked with the member states to analyze challenges encountered in defending the rights of people of African descent and combating racial discrimination, and to formulate recommendations designed to overcome obstacles, identify and share best practices.” In that context he said that by marking the launch of the International Decade for People of African Descent, “we will have an opportunity to reflect on the progress made thus far and to share our countries’ best practices and successful programs aimed at full recognition of the rights of and access to opportunities for all.”

The meeting included a presentation by the Interim Representative of Antigua and Barbuda, Joy-Dee Davis-Lake, who explained the background of the decision of the United Nations to dedicate the years 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent. "This initiative shows that the international community recognizes that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected," she said, recalling that about 200 million people in the Americas identify themselves as being of part of this group. Therefore, she continued, during this decade member states should focus on the ratification of the the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Form of Intolerance and the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance on the implementation of affirmative action, in a frank dialogue on the "colorism" or pigmentocracy as a form of discrimination and to give priority to the issues of education and awareness of the issue.

For his part, the Deputy Assistant to the President in the Office of Urban Affairs, Justice and Opportunity of the White House, Roy L. Austin, Jr., presented some of the initiatives that the United States government has implemented to combat racism, ensure the protection of the rights of the people of African descent and ensure their access to development, primarily in areas related to criminal investigations, surveillance and security, and in guaranteeing the application of justice "regardless of race, religion, nation of origin or ethnicity." Austin explained that a priority for his government is to provide services to those sectors that struggle the most and therefore they have implemented actions to ensure that law enforcement is applied fairly, avoiding the bias of profiling. In this regard he cited the efforts to provide tools for teachers and community leaders that will ensure equal treatment of young people in black communities, as well as the "My Brother's Keeper" program that seeks to support youth at risk and encourage them to think more broadly about their future.

The International Advisor to the Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (SEPPIR) in Brazil, Magali Naves, recalled that racism and racial discrimination are worldwide phenomena and as such it is necessary to have cooperation between countries to overcome them. "Combating racism is not an option, it is a moral and ethical obligation. All human beings are born free and equal in rights and have the ability to constructively contribute to the development of societies," she said, and highlighted the progress made in the region in relation to the formation of networks of organizations promoting the rights of people of African descent; the creation of government entities focused on the defense of their interests; and of national antidiscrimination laws that encourage their equal and active participation. However, she recalled that the Rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the Rights of Persons of African Descent has found that countries in the region "do not respond uniformly to the existing international commitments in this area and has formulated a set of recommendations to promote an effective agenda and collectively address the human rights challenges." Naves concluded by explaining the need to eliminate racism to achieve full democracy, and said that the following decade "should be an opportunity to advance on the issue and set prioroties at the international level."

The Deputy Minister for Participation and Equal Rights of Colombia, Carmen Inés Vasquez, presented specific proposals for the formulation of plans of action developed during the Decade, among which she included the issues of recognition, justice and development. "We must make efforts to learn about the population of African descent in our countries through national censuses, and recognize the contributions that this population has made to the plurality of the hemisphere." She urged states to consider racism and discrimination as hindrances to development and justice and said that the Decade should be used to promote a dialogue about racial ethnic cultures, and to incorporate the issue of African descent as a central theme in the initiatives undertaken by international organizations. She stressed that issues such as measuring the levels of perception of racism and racial discrimination and international cooperation to break the link between poverty and racism are key steps that the OAS and the Inter-American System agencies should incorporate. "The five resolutions that the OAS has adopted since 2010 on the issue of people of Afro descent confirm the growing interest of the Organization in this population, and the dimension of the challenges invite us to deepen our political dialogue and cooperation in favor of that population," she concluded.

For his part, the Presidential Commissioner for Issues of African Descent of Costa Rica, Quince Duncan pointed to the need to propose a shift in the discourse on the situation of African descent in the Americas. "The biggest problem for people of African descent in the Americas is not poverty," he said, but rather, "is a result of structural racism, historical discrimination that the afro-descendent population has been forced to endure." He added that throughout history there has been no full recognition of people of African descent and their contributions, "and it has been a real problem to make national states recognize that black ethnic groups in the region constitute a people, with everything that implies.” For this reason, he said that no development program for people of African descent will have a lasting effect if the underlying issue is not attacked and in that sense proposed "taking effective measures to eliminate the racialized barriers that distort and hinder the full integration of entrepreneurs of African descent in local, regional and global markets," which should be identified by each State. Also, he suggested that the OAS itself advise its member states on implementing programs of training, coordination and integration of entrepreneurs of African descent with a vision of development with identity.

For her part, the Executive Secretary of Black Ethnicity of Panama, Haydee Milanés, said the importance of holding the International Decade of People of African Descent is that it opens an appropriate period "to share between the countries that make up the Americas our real situation with regard to people of African descent." She added that the recognition of the existence of an Afro-descendant population is low, and that it must be strengthened to implement effective justice. "Funds for programs leading to development are needed," she said, and added that this decade will facilitate programs and activities in which states and international organizations can support the efforts of civil society on the path towards human development. She insisted that "all governments in Latin America and the Caribbean must have time to get together and make a diagnosis of the situation in each country, and propose programs that address the needs of the afro-descendant population that has been left behind for centuries, feeling that global and hemispheric conference after conference will not deliver answers."

The Director of Ethnic Unity and Itinerant Ambassador for People of African descent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Romero Rodriguez, highlighted the changes that have been made regarding the recognition of people of African descent through the joint efforts of civil society and the Latin American and Caribbean states. However, in recalling that nearly seventy-two percent of the nearly one hundred ninety million African descendants in the hemisphere live below the poverty line, he mentioned the possibility of an Inter-American Committee to monitor the situation and generate policies and a road map to 2024, when the decade ends. Finally, he said that "this international decade brings us together to contribute to a plan of action, but necessarily we have to analyze the structural bases our nations still have to review, and put on the table the role played by the slave trade, which formed the structural basis for the development of our nations, which allowed for uneven development and the formation of racism over time," he said. ”The challenge for the multilateral organizations in the Decade is that recognition, justice and development be set forth with a historical, educational and economic ethic," he said.

During the special meeting the representatives of Uruguay, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Honduras, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Argentina, Bahamas , Belize and Colombia took the floor.

The International Decade for People of African Descent was proclaimed in 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly in a resolution that establishes the celebration between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2024 under the theme: "People of African Descent: recognition, justice and development.” The text of the resolution states that, despite the efforts, millions of people are still victims of racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance. In this context, the OAS General Assembly held in Asuncion, Paraguay in June 2014 joined the celebration through a Resolution in which countries reaffirm "the importance of the full and equal participation of people of African descent in all aspects of political, economic, social, and cultural life in the countries of the Americas.”

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The video news of the event will be available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-144/15