At its 2016 General Assembly, the Organization of American States (OAS) approved the Plan of Action for the Decade of Afro-Descendants in the Americas (2016-2025), in recognizing that people of African descent in the Americas are descendants of millions of Africans who were forcibly enslaved and transported as part of the inhumane transatlantic slave trade between the 15th and 19th centuries.

The Plan of Action outlines a series of key activities to promote awareness of the situation of people of African descent in the Americas and to ensure their full participation in social, economic and political life and mandates the annual commemoration of the International Day for the Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

In February 2018, Member States adopted a Resolution establishing the Inter-American Week for People of African Descent in the Americas to remember the legacy of slavery and the slave trade, and their consequences on the lives of Afro-descendants, while also fostering greater awareness and respect for the diversity of the heritage and culture of people of African descent and their contribution to the development of society.

The celebration takes place within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly resolution, which proclaimed 2015-2024 as the Decade of People of African Descent, citing "the need to strengthen national, regional and international cooperation in relation to the Full economic, social, cultural, civil and civil rights enjoyment of Afro-descendants and their full and equal participation in all aspects of society.