Brazil at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African descent
Ana Barreto is a WBO consultant and expert in the intersections of race, gender, reproductive justice, and the arts. She sits on the board of the White Ribbon Alliance and has over fifteen years of experience working with social movements and international organizations in several counties. She is the transnational director of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, leading their global programmatic and advocacy work. She is a Soros Equality fellow and a senior fellow of the UN Fellowship Program for People of African descent. Ana is also the founder of Black Women Policy Lab, an initiative that promotes transnational spaces for exchange and learning between Black women leaders around the world. This text was originally written for issue 66 of the WBO Newsletter, published on June 9, 2023. Fill in the form at the bottom of the text to access and subscribe to the WBO weekly newsletter in English.
Over 100 Black Brazilian human rights defenders and activists attended the second session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) that took place from 30 May to 2 June 2023 at the United Nations in New York City. Our Minister of Racial Justice, Annielle Franco, was the speaker of the opening session.
The PFPAD brough together a robust group of stakeholders to discuss urgent issues affecting Black communities globally, including human rights activists, goverments, United Nations bodies, international organizations, academics and civil society representatives, for thematic discussions, side events and special events. Several WBO-affiliated organizations hosted different side-events including Geledes, and CEERT. The Washington Brazil Office participated in the conference and supported a side event on the impacts of racism on health. In this event organized by UNESCO, historical activist Valdecir Nascimento and I spoke about the realities of Black women in Latin America, as well as the strategies of resistance created by our communities.
“The modern world has been shaped by colonialism, structural racism, and centuries of dehumanization and collective trauma of people of African descent. Whether we are discussing economics, climate change, dignified jobs, or AI, those issues are at the center of systemic oppressions suffer by millions every day, but so is our existence, resistance, beings, histories, culture, heritage, contributions, and yes, joy”
The theme of the second session is Realizing the Dream: A United Nations Declaration on the Promotion, Protection and Full Respect of the Human Rights of People of African Descent, which is part of a global consultative process focused on five thematic issues: global reparatory justice, Pan-Africanism, transnational migration, disaggregated data collection, and health, well-being and intergenerational trauma.
What is the Permanent Forum on People of African descent?
The Permanent Forum of People of African Descent is a consultative mechanism for people of African descent as a platform for promoting dignity and wellbeing of Black communities globally, it also serves as an advisory body to the Human Rights Council, in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). The Permanent Forum includes ten experts representing different regions of the world. There are four members representing Latin America: former Vice-president of Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell (chair), Gaynel Curry (Bahamas), Pastor Elías Murillo (Colombia) and June Soomer (Saint Lucia).
What are the main objectives of the Permanent Forum?
To contribute to the promotion of all human rights of people of African descent globally;
To provide advice and recommendations to the Human Rights Council, programs, funds and agencies of the United Nations on how to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
To promote the Durban Declaration and Program of Action relevant to people of African descent; and
To support the elaboration of a UN Declaration on the promotion, protection and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent.
The Permanent Forum is a victory of many racial justice groups and civil society organizations that have been fighting for decades for a more robust international human rights system that includes an intersectional approach to racism and racial justice oppressions. The Permanent Forum was first discussed during the historical Durban Conference, held in South Africa in 2001, where the Durban Declaration and Program of Action was established and finally established by the General Assembly ten years later.
What comes next?
At the closing session of the 2nd session, members of the Permanent Forum announced that a consultation about the UN Declaration on the promotion, protection and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent will take place in Brazil by the end of the year.
The modern world has been shaped by colonialism, structural racism, and centuries of dehumanization and collective trauma of people of African descent. Whether we are discussing economics, climate change, dignified jobs, or AI, those issues are at the center of systemic oppressions suffer by millions every day, but so is our existence, resistance, beings, histories, culture, heritage, contributions, and yes, joy. In the words of the amazing Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo: “They agreed to kill us, but we agreed to not die”.
