Afro-descendants: rights and combating racial discrimination
Region countries have Instruments on I. Afro-Descendants
Policies and instruments
Latin America has a large Afro-descendant population - estimated at 134 million in 2020 - with a high degree of demographic and socio-political heterogeneity between and within countries. In addition to sharing origins, culture and identity, Afro-descendant persons encounter social challenges whose central characteristics have been enslavement, colonization, discrimination and exclusion, as it was recognized at the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held by the United Nations in Durban (South Africa) in 2001. Although the data is fragmentary, the inequalities observed in the indicators on living conditions to the detriment of Afro-descendant populations are a reflection of the discrimination and structural racism that affects them, as is the invisibility of these people in policies and programmes.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent (resolution 68/237), covering the period from 2015 to 2024, underscoring the need to strengthen national, regional and international cooperation regarding the full enjoyment of the economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights of Afro-descendent persons, along with their full and equal participation in all aspects of society. This underscores the relevance of including this perspective in the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. While the ICPD Programme of Action did not explicitly address the situation of Afro-descendent peoples, the five-yearly reviews carried out in the region have increasingly incorporated these population groups.
In addition to specific monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of the rights of Afro-descendent persons, actions should be coordinated with other agencies and counterparts, such as UNFPA, PAHO and UNICEF, among others. Priority action 98, focused on generating knowledge and updated disaggregated information, is fundamental for formulating and implementing policies related to population and development and Afro-descendent peoples, as well as for promoting and monitoring the realization of their rights. In this context, collaborative follow-up efforts with SCA-ECLAC and other United Nations agencies are imperative.
Priority Measures
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I.92 - Respect for and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Program of Action with the full participation of people of African descent
Respect and implement the provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, by adapting the legal frameworks and formulating the policies necessary for their implementation, with the full participation of Afro-descendent persons. -
I.93 - Treatment of inequalities with and their presence in situations of discrimination in women and young people of African descent
Address gender, racial, ethnic and intergenerational inequalities, bearing in mind the way these dimensions overlap in situations of discrimination affecting women, especially young Afro-descendent women. -
I.94 - Demographic and sociocultural dynamics in Afro-descendant populations
Consider the special demographic and sociocultural dynamics of Afro-descendent populations in the design and implementation of public policies, ensuring their full participation and the development of disaggregated statistics. -
I.95 - Right to health in Afro-descendant people
Ensure that Afro-descendent persons, in particular Afro-descendent girls, adolescents and women, can exercise the right to health, especially the right to sexual health and reproductive health, taking into account the specific socioterritorial and cultural features and the structural factors, such as racism, that hinder the exercise of their rights. -
I.96 - Promotion of development in Afro-descendant populations
Promote the development of Afro-descendent populations by implementing public policies, establishing standards and creating institutions to guide and carry forward affirmative action policies, plans and programmes at the sectoral level, whereby the principles of equality and non-discrimination can be incorporated into all levels of government, with organized civil society participating throughout the process of design, implementation and evaluation of those instruments. -
I.97 - Afro-descendant women and living conditions
Ensure that policies and programmes are in place to raise the living standards of Afro-descendent women, by fully enforcing their rights, in particular their sexual rights and reproductive rights. -
I.98 - Generation of knowledge and information on Afro-descendant populations
Generate knowledge and reliable and timely information with a gender perspective and disaggregated by sex, age and socioeconomic status, among other variables, on Afro-descendent populations through participatory processes, paying attention to the international requirements and recommendations relating to the issue.
Instruments
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Sexual Rights Advocacy Intervention Programming
This is the reorganisation of the BFPA's Human and Sexual Rights Advocacy Intervention programming such as advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights; our
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Bfpa Clinic (Medical And Clinical Services
The BFPA Community Health Centre will be providing medical and clinical services across four major types of clinic categories with and emphasis on provision to
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Adolescent Access To Clinical Services
The BFPA’s clinic makes a special effort to cater to the needs of young adolescents in Barbados. These needs are catered for in a comfortable
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Ley General De Víctimas
• Establecer y coordinar las acciones y medidas necesarias para promover, respetar, proteger, garantizar y permitir el ejercicio efectivo de los derechos de las víctimas
Indicators
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Existence of a State policy, plan or strategy that includes the provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
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Existence of a national mechanism governing racial equality policies.
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Percentage of the public budget earmarked/executed for actions aimed at guaranteeing the rights of the Afrodescendent population, by sector, and percentage allocated to a governing institution on Afrodescendent affairs.
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Existence of intercultural sexual and reproductive health services, including preventive measures and culturally and linguistically relevant information.
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Percentage of relevant data sources that include self-identification of Afrodescendants, such as censuses, surveys and administrative records in the different sectors.
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Existence of mechanisms that guarantee Afrodescendants’ full participation in the production of official statistics.
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Number and percentage of Afrodescendent experts (male and female) working on information production and analysis in government offices.
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Proportion of seats held by Afrodescendent people in national parliaments and local governments.