Articles & Publications
Preventing and Countering Racial Profiling of People of African Descent
The present publication provides an overview of the types of racial profiling experienced by people of African descent, the applicable international legal framework, actions taken by international human rights mechanisms and documented examples of good practices for addressing racial profiling.
Towards a Declaration on the Rights of People of African Descent
1 November 2018 -- The programme of activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent requested States to consider the elaboration of a draft UN declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African descent. Discussions on such a draft declaration have now started.
Black Panther draws crowds at UN
10 October 2018 -- The 3 October screening of the blockbuster "Black Panther" film at UN Headquarters -- under the banner of the International Decade for People of African Descent -- attracted large crowds and featured production designer Hannah Beachler, who explained how she and her team created the fictional African country of Wakanda.
UN chief honours enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King
4 April 2018 -- Recalling the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated 50 years ago today, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the world to build on the civil rights leader’s work for equality and social justice.
Jesse Jackson issues call at UN for ‘global coalition of conscience’ to cement human rights
There needs to be a “massive global coalition of conscience” to enshrine the values of racial equality and human rights for all, declared civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking at the United Nations in March 2018.
UN forum explores ongoing discrimination faced by people of African descent
Participants from Europe, Central Asia and North America gathered at the United Nations Regional Meeting on the International Decade for People of African Descent in Geneva on 23-24 November 2017 to explore ways to combat racial discrimination and to ensure effective promotion and protection of the human rights of people of African descent.
Women and Girls
Women and girls of African descent face intersecting and multiple forms of discrimination. This publication, based on the latest report of the Secretary-General on the programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent, contains an analysis of the findings of international human rights mechanisms in select areas, in order to illustrate how discrimination against women and girls of African descent is manifested. It also highlights good practices and recommendations for the realization of the rights of women and girls of African descent.
Learning about contributions of the African diaspora through film
To mark Black History Month in the United States, the contributions of people of African descent were the subject of a discussion and screening of the film, Familiar Faces/Unexpected Places: A Global African Diaspora, on 8 February 2018 at UN Headquarters. The event was organized by the UN Remember Slavery Programme, and the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024.
Spain: End racial profiling and invisibility of people of African descent, UN experts urge
A state of invisibility coupled with everyday racial discrimination faced by people of African descent exacerbates their suffering and hinders their legitimate quest for equality, a group of UN human rights experts said after visiting Spain.
Guyana: Crisis in justice and penitentiary systems greatly affect human rights, UN experts warn
Major deficiencies in the justice and prison systems in Guyana, including a jail not fit for human habitation, are having a disproportionate impact on people of African descent, a group of UN human rights experts has said after visiting the country.
Opal Tometi: Standing up against racial discrimination
Opal Tometi is the co-founder of Black Lives Matter, an international activist movement that campaigns to promote and protect human rights and dignity of Black people. She was recently in Geneva, Switzerland to participate in the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent’s 20th session and civil society consultations. She took some time to chat with the UN Human Rights Office about why international human rights mechanisms are important in the fight against racism.
Germany: UN rights panel highlights racial profiling against people of African descent
27 February – People of African descent in Germany suffer racial discrimination, Afrophobia and racial profiling in their daily lives, but their situation remains largely invisible to the wider society, a United Nations expert panel said today at the end of its first official visit to the country.
UN expert panel warns of systemic anti-Black racism in Canada’s criminal justice system
21 October 2016 – A group of United Nations human rights experts today expressed serious concerns about systemic anti-Black racism in the criminal justice system in Canada.
UN condemns this week's deadly gun violence in US
8 July 2016 – United Nations officials today spoke out against recent violence in the United States which has left several people dead, expressing both outrage and condemnation over the killings, and highlighting the need for more to be done to fight discrimination.
FEATURE: Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover calls out racism, Afrophobia in the Americas
30 June 2016 – The international community must increase its commitment to fighting Afrophobia and discrimination against people of African descent, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador and actor Danny Glover has said, speaking during the International Decade for People of African Descent.
Colombia: UN experts urge protection of Afro-Colombian communities against elevating violence
Distressed over reports of violence against people of African descent in Colombia, a United Nations expert panel has called on the authorities to take concrete and urgent measures to protect the country’s Afro-Colombian communities.
Africans in India: From Slaves to Generals and Rulers
Did you know that India and Africa have a shared history in music, religion, trade, arts and architecture? An exhibit titled “Africans in India: From Slaves to Generals and Rulers,” on display at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 8 February to 30 March 2016, explores that history. The exhibit was organized by the UN Department of Public Information’s Remember Slavery Programme and presented in partnership with the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.
UN experts urge US to address legacies of the past, police impunity and ‘crisis of racial injustice’
The legacy of slavery, post-Reconstruction ‘Jim Crow’ laws and racial subordination in the United States remains a “serious challenge” as there has been no real commitment to recognition and reparations for people of African descent, a United Nations expert panel said in Washington D.C. on 29 January 2016, at the end of its second official visit to the country.
Brochure on the International Decade for People of African Descent
This brochure was produced to accompany a exhibit at UN Headquarters in January 2016. It provides a brief overview of the background, objectives and activities of the Decade.
Latin America faces huge task to reverse discrimination against Afro-descendants – UN rights chief
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, saying he was struck by the “enormity of the task” over the next decade to reverse five centuries of discrimination against the 150 million people of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean, has urged the region to draw on “the untapped potential in hitherto invisible communities.”
Booklet on the International Decade for People of African Descent
With a foreword by the Secretary-General and an introduction by the High Commissioner for Human Rights
"If you want to liberate your body, liberate your mind" (Africa Renewal, April 2015)
Inteview with Sam Kutesa, President of the United Nations General Assembly’s sixty-ninth session
African-Americans resettle in Africa (Africa Renewal, April 2015)
Ghana is the first African country to open its doors to people of African descent from all over the world – but bureaucracy takes a toll.