Background

The scarcity of official data continues to obscure the systemic racism experienced by people of African descent in many countries. When available, data shows striking racial disparities in their level of enjoyment of human rights, in all areas of life, such as health, education, employment, housing and with regard to interactions with law enforcement and the justice system.

The collection, publication, analysis and use of data disaggregated by race or ethnic origin, amongst other grounds, is central to achieving the right to non-discrimination for people of African descent. Data is necessary to inform and design sound anti-racism policies based on empirical evidence; to identify areas where special measures are needed; and to objectively monitor the effectiveness of policy measures and progress made. Such calls are also clear for example in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Programme of Action of the International Decade for People of African Descent and the High Commissioner’s Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality.

The virtual consultation is organized pursuant to HRC resolution 47/21 on racial justice and equality and it contributes to the Office’s work towards advancing the programme of activities of the International Decade for People of African Descent.

It builds on recent work on disaggregated data, in which the Secretary-General, High Commissioner, and UN human rights mechanisms have called upon States to compile, analyse, disseminate and publish data disaggregated by race, national or ethnic origin, sex, gender, age and other factors, with strict safeguards and in accordance with international human rights law. It draws on the human rights-based approach to data which provides practical guidance to data collection and disaggregation in order to leave no-one behind in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Objectives:

The event aims to raise awareness about:

• The obligations placed on States and the importance to collect, publish and use data disaggregated by race or ethnic origin and other factors to inform the development and monitoring of laws, policies and programmes to address systemic racism faced by people of African descent.
• Experiences and lessons learnt of collecting and using data disaggregated by race or ethnic origin, drawing on the six principles of the human rights-based approach to data, namely: participation; data disaggregation; self-identification; transparency; privacy; and accountability.
• Recent recommendations by the United Nations and UN human rights mechanisms on the use of data, grounded in the human rights-based approach, to advance the human rights of people of African descent.

Agenda and Speakers

Moderator: Abdoul Aziz Thioye, Chief of Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch, OHCHR

Panellists:

• Ninna Marie Ottey McDonald, National Secretariat for Afro-Panamanian Affairs, Panama
• Kasari Govender, British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner, Canada
• Luís Eduardo Batista, Researcher at the State Department of Health of São Paulo and Advisor for Racial Equity in Health at the Office of the Minister of Health, Brazil
• Habib Kadiri, Executive Director, StopWatch, United Kingdom
• Evodia Uggi, researcher and project coordinator for Sankaa's research project 'Racism Unravelled', Belgium

More details to follow

Registration

Please register through the link https://indico.un.org/event/1008225/

Kindly note that ALL participants must register in advance to attend the event. The Zoom link will be shared after registration, close to the meeting date.

Webcast

Watch the webcast on UN Web TV