Permanent Forum on People of African descent

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Permanent Forum on People of African descent

Background

In November 2014, the United Nations General Assembly decided, in the resolution A/RES/69/16 entitled Programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent, "to establish a forum to serve as a consultation mechanism... that would ensure the inclusive participation of all States Members of the United Nations, United Nations funds and programmes, specialized agencies, civil society organizations of people of African descent and all other relevant stakeholders".

In December 2018, the UN General Assembly decided, in resolution A/RES/73/262, "to establish a permanent forum on people of African descent, which will:

  • Serve as a consultation mechanism for people of African descent and other interested stakeholders as a platform for improving the quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent, and
  • Contribute to elaborating a United Nations declaration, which is the first step towards a legally binding instrument, on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African descent.

The modalities, format and substantive and procedural aspects of the permanent forum will be concluded by Member States and observer States, with further consultations with people of African descent."

Pursuant to A/RES/69/16, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights invited in March 2015 interested stakeholders, individuals, groups and organizations to submit information on their vision for the new forum on people of African descent. All submissions received were transmitted to Member States.

Between 2015 and 2018, successive resolutions from the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/RES/30/17 and A/HRC/34/33) and the General Assembly (A/RES/73/262) spelled out some of the modalities of the Permanent Forum. On 10 May 2019, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/73/262, OHCHR organized with the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica in Geneva a one-day consultation on the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. It attracted over 200 participants, including representatives from governments, UN mechanisms, bodies and specialized agencies, civil society and people of African descent from all regions. Download the Chairperson's Report of the one-day consultation on the Permanent Forum on people of African descent (A/PFPAD/2019/1).

Previous meetings

Virtual informal consultation with Member States and civil society
Friday 9 April 2021, 10:00-13:00 (Eastern Standard Time)

Please find below invitation letters from the co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process to define the modalities, format, and the substantive and procedural aspects of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (Letters to Member States / Civil Society)

The purpose of the event is to allow Member States and civil society organizations to mutually convey their concepts regarding the draft outline on the main aspects of the Permanent Forum on people of African descent, including its mandate, substantive objectives, procedural aspects, structure, format and reporting modalities.

The co-facilitators' aim is to stimulate contributions from stakeholders and motivate their engagement notwithstanding the tight schedule. The co-facilitators deem all previous efforts and engagement have so far borne positive fruit and the process has sufficiently developed to move to the next phase. Accordingly, the co-facilitators wish to submit the outcome of this process to the President of the General Assembly before the debate on the midterm review of the International Decade for People of African Descent.

Concept note, registration and technical provisions

Please find the link to the concept note explaining steps to be followed for pre- registration and registration, as well as technical requirements to be observed. The event will adopt a virtual modality. Speakers, participants and attendants are required to pre-register to be allowed access the internet-based platform Interprefy. The deadline pre-registration is 7 April (9 am Eastern Standard Time).

Civil society organizations interested delivering statements should follow the procedures outlined in the concept note. For pre-registration, speakers from civil society are requested to provide their full names, the name and address of the organization represented, and send to the following email address: decadepadgeneva@ohchr.org.

Member States and Observers wishing to take the floor during the meeting are kindly requested to send an e-mail to the General Assembly Affairs Branch (e-mail: galindo@un.org)

Participants intending to deliver statements should make their statements available in advance by Wednesday 7 April at the respective email addresses above to facilitate interpretation

For all interested stakeholders, the event will also be webcasted live on UN Web TV in 6 official UN languages on Friday 9 April 2021.

Call for submissions from co-facilitators

Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 75/237 of 31 December 2020, entitled, "A global call for concrete action for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action", the President of the General Assembly has appointed H.E. Ms. Ammo Aziza Baroud, Permanent Representative of Chad to the United Nations in New York and H.E. Mr. Rodrigo Alberto Carazo Zeledón, Permanent Representative of Costa-Rica to the United Nations in New York as co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process to define the modalities, format, and the substantive and procedural aspects of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.

The co-facilitators are calling for inputs from all civil society stakeholders, including representatives of people of African descent, to share their written advice or preliminary views on the modalities, format, and the substantive and procedural aspects of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Click here for more details on the call for inputs.

The inputs can be sent to: decadepadgeneva@ohchr.org

Deadline for inputs: 6 April 2021

2019 Consultation on the permanent forum on people of African descent

In May 2019, OHCHR held a one-day Consultation on the permanent forum on people of African descent, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/73/262. The Consultation focused on "the modalities, format and substantive and procedural aspects of the permanent forum".

Information note
Registration for participants
Programme of work

Submissions from civil society

OHCHR had held a similar consultation in 2015. The compilation of submissions is available here. All submissions received were transmitted to Member States.

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