People of African Descent - September 2013
Department of International Law participates in Third World Summit of Mayors and Leaders of Africans and African Descent
The Third World Summit of Mayors and Leaders of
Africans and African Descent, held in Colombia from
September 12 to 18, ended with 16-point declaration
of commitment, including the call to join efforts to
sign, ratify, and implement the Inter-American
Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
and Related Forms of Intolerance as well as the
Inter-American Convention against All Forms of
Discrimination and Intolerance.
Cali hosted the Summit from September 12 to 16, and
Cartagena de Indias from September 17 to 18.
The event was organized by the
National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM), which
brings together 689 mayors in the United States; and
the Association of Afro-Colombian Mayors (AMUNAFRO),
which brings together 215 mayors in Colombia.
The Summit's main objective was
to deepen political dialogue and international
cooperation to develop Africa and the African
diaspora through cultural, social, economic,
commercial, recreational, academic, and spiritual
integration.
Among those in attendance at the
opening ceremony were the President of Colombia,
Juan Manuel Santos; Vice President of Colombia,
Angelino Garzón; Mayor of Cali, Rodrigo Guerrero;
Mayor of Cartagena, Dionisio Vélez; Mayor of Quibdó,
Zulia Mena; Director of the Presidential
Afro-Colombian Program, Oscar Gamboa; Italy's
Minister of Integration and International
Cooperation, Cécile Kyenge; and Assistant Secretary
General of the Organization of American States
(OAS), Ambassador Albert Ramdin.
The Department of International
Law was invited to participate in the Roundtable on
Best Practices, based on its work in the OAS on the
issue of people of African descent.
Since 2008 the Department of
International Law has been working on the issues of
people of African descent, organizing a range of
activities to give greater visibility to people of
African descent within the inter-American system and
to allow them to participate more effectively in its
activities.
A moving, heartfelt speech was
delivered by US civil rights activist Reverend Jesse
Jackson at the closing ceremony.
Finally, it was decided that the
Fourth World Summit of Mayors and Leaders of
Africans and African Descent would be held in The
Ivory Coast in 2014 and the Fifth World Summit in
Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) in 2015.
For further information on people of African
descent, visit our Website »
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