Caricom restates commitment to Int’l Decade for African Descendants

Apr 19, 2015 News

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The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has restated its support for the International Decade for People of African Descent and has made clear its attempt to address the burning issues of racism, prejudice and intolerance.

This position was reaffirmed Tuesday in New York when St Vincent and the Grenadines Ambassador to the United Nations, Rhonda King, insisted Caricom’s commitment to the International Decade for People of African Descent, as pronounced by the United Nations (UN), which began on January 1.
Addressing the just concluded International Reparations Summit there, King said the accompanying Programme of Activities for the Implementation of the International Decade will contribute to the full implementation of the Durban Declaration and to its Programme of Action, and raise awareness in combating racism, prejudice and intolerance.
In a CMC report on the summit, King said that Caricom sees the International Decade for ‘People of African Descent, with its theme, ‘People of African Descent: Recognition, Justice and Development’ as, “an important space for diplomatic engagement”. The envoy said that, “The programme of activities which accompanies the Decade will address many of the concerns of the African descendant communities.”
“We can no longer accept a mere nibbling away at the edges of these concerns. Until and unless the issue of reparatory justice for slavery is addressed, due recognition, justice and development for People of African Descent will remain incomplete.”
In this context, King said the steps to be taken by the International community, and international and regional organisations during this Decade, as outlined in the Programme of Action, will include engagement with

people of African descent.
With respect to the steps and measures to be taken by the UN General Assembly, King said these will include the decision to establish a forum to serve as a consultation mechanism to be provided by one of the existing Durban follow-up mechanisms, such as the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent or the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
This year marks the convergence of several events, including the launch of the International Decade for People of African Descent; the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Post-2015 Development Agenda with its Sustainable Development Goals and Financing for Development component; and the 70th Anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations. King said Caricom maintains that “we have arrived at the crossroads of new possibilities.”
Delegates at the major reparations summit, organised by the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), agreed to consolidate the growing African global reparations movement and to call on all civil society organisations and governments in countries around the world, with Afro-descendant populations, to establish national reparations commissions or committees. The IBW is a leading research, policy and advocacy group with offices in New York and Baltimore.
Ms. Verene Shepherd, Chair of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, also urged support for the proposed International Decade for People of African Descent. Shepherd earlier made the call while presenting a report to the UN General Assembly Third Committee, which deals with Social, Humanitarian and Cultural matters.
The report from New York said that the committee is currently discussing issues relating to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and the right to self determination. According to her, the “People of African descent have for centuries been victims of racism, racial discrimination, enslavement and denial of their rights”.
She expressed support for designating the period 2015 to 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent, while noting that the draft programme of action for the proposed international decade would be centred on the theme, stressing the need to recognise people of African descent as a distinct group.
Shepherd also called for efforts to address the historical and continuing violations of their rights, including the denial of equal access to justice, reparations and protection under the law. She said the “indigestible fishbone of slavery” continued to stick in the throat due to the persistence of its legacies over 500 years. “The impact of slavery and colonialism were most obvious in the Americas and on the African content itself,” she added.
The UN in its attempt to recognize African Descendants who still face various forms of restrictions launched the decade with the intention of removing stigma and other obstacles that directly affect these persons.
United Nations General Assembly President Sam Kutesa stated during the launch that, people of African descent still face racism in every country, region and continent of the world.
He said that, “Over the next ten years, people everywhere are encouraged to take part in the global conversation on the realities faced by people of African descent.” Kutesa who is a national of Uganda called the Decade’s launch a historic achievement.
“The Decade will allow us to explore the challenges faced by people of African descent due to pervasive racism and racial discrimination engrained in our society today,” he noted.

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