WASHINGTON, CMC – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Friday called on member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) to comply with the objectives of the Second Decade for People of African Descent on recognition, justice and development.
In a message commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Friday and the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on March 25, the IACHR said it is urging states to comply with the objectives of the Second Decade for People of African Descent on recognition, justice, and development.
In December 2013, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 68/237, which proclaimed the period from 2015 to 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent, with objectives to guarantee the rights of this population and their equal participation in society.
The IACHR, a principal, autonomous body of the OAS, said the first decade promoted significant advances in discussions on comprehensive restorative justice for historical human trafficking and slavery, the recognition of lands and territories of tribal communities of African Descent, and the incorporation of the racial approach in education systems.
It said that within this framework, it stresses the need to give continuity to international, regional, and national cooperation efforts for the enjoyment of the rights of people of African Descent, in line with the OAS Plan of Action 2016-2025.
“This continuity will be possible with the fulfillment of the objectives of the Second Decade for People of African Descent, which, declared in January 2025, will run until 2034 with the theme “Afro-descendants: recognition, justice, and development.”
Within the Inter-American system, efforts are underway to adopt a future Declaration to promote the human rights of persons and peoples of African Descent.
The IACHR urged us to recognize and respect the historical agency of people of African Descent in the Americas and Caribbean, whose resistance, cultural contributions, political activism, and economic participation have fundamentally shaped the region.
“The IACHR, therefore, calls upon states to adopt comprehensive legal and policy frameworks to eliminate all forms of discrimination, including intersectional and structural patterns that perpetuate historical injustices, systemic marginalization, and socioeconomic exclusion of persons and peoples of African Descent.
“Furthermore, states must implement effective measures to address persistent disparities through comprehensive strategies that guarantee equality and non-discrimination, informed by robust data collection on the socioeconomic conditions of Afro-descendant populations. “
The IACHR said that these strategies should simultaneously protect collective rights to ancestral lands and cultural heritage, ensure equitable access to education, healthcare, employment, and political representation, and facilitate meaningful participation in decision-making processes that affect these communities by international and regional human rights obligations to combat poverty and structural inequities affecting people of African Descent.
“The IACHR maintains its commitment to the rights of Afro-descendants while reaffirming its willingness to provide technical cooperation to States for the development and implementation of actions aimed at guaranteeing the rights of this population,” it added.
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