OEA - Documento ACTAS-S C 35 25 de 2025

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OEA/Ser.G

CP/ACTA 2420/23

22 marzo 2023

ACTA DE LA SESIÓN EXTRAORDINARIA

DEL CONSEJO PERMANENTE DE LA

ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS

CELEBRADA EL 22 DE MARZO DE 2023

Transcripción corregida

Esta transcripción corregida se somete a la aprobación del Consejo Permanente. Una vez aprobada, constituirá la versión final del acta.

ÍNDICE

Página

Nómina de los miembros que asistieron a la sesión 1

Aprobación del proyecto de orden del día 3

Conmemoración del Día Internacional de Recuerdo de las Víctimas de la

Esclavitud y la Trata Trasatlántica de Esclavos 4

Diálogo de los Estados Miembros con los ponentes 23

Conclusiones a cargo del Secretario General Adjunto de la Organización

de los Estados Americanos, Embajador Nestor Mendez 62

CONSEJO PERMANENTE DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS

ACTA DE LA SESIÓN ORDINARIA

CELEBRADA EL 22 DE MARZO DE 2023

En la ciudad de Washington, D. C., a las diez y ocho de la mañana del miércoles 22 de marzo de 2023, celebró sesión extraordinaria el Consejo Permanente de la Organización de los Estados Americanos para conmemorar el Día Internacional de Recuerdo de las Víctimas de la Esclavitud y la Trata Trasatlántica de Esclavos. Presidió la sesión el Embajador Anthony Phillips-Spencer, Representante Permanente de Trinidad y Tobago y Presidente del Consejo Permanente. Asistieron los siguientes miembros:

Embajadora María del Carmen Roquebert León, Representante Permanente de Panamá y Vicepresidenta del Consejo Permanente

Embajadora Lou-Anne Gaylene Gilchrist, Representante Permanente de San Vicente y las Granadinas

Embajadora María del Carmen Roquebert León, Representante Permanente de Panamá y Vicepresidenta del Consejo Permanente

Embajadora Lou-Anne Gaylene Gilchrist, Representante Permanente de San Vicente y las Granadinas

Embajadora Rita Claverie de Sciolli, Representante Permanente de Guatemala

Embajadora Yolande Yvonne Smith, Representante Permanente de Grenada

Embajadora Luz Elena Baños Rivas, Representante Permanente de México

Embajador Hugh Adsett, Representante Permanente del Canadá

Embajador Josué Antinoe Fiallo Billini, Representante Permanente de la República Dominicana

Embajador Carlos Alberto Raimundi, Representante Permanente de la Argentina

Embajadora Alejandra Solano Cabalceta, Representante Permanente de Costa Rica

Embajador Lynn Raymond Young, Representante Permanente de Belize

Embajador Samuel Hinds, Representante Permanente de Guyana

Embajador Agustín Vásquez Gómez, Representante Permanente de El Salvador

Embajador Leon Charles, Representante Permanente de Haití

Embajador Chet Donovan Neymour, Representante Permanente del Commonwealth de las

Bahamas

Embajador Mauricio Montalvo Samaniego, Representante Permanente de Ecuador

Embajador Carlos Roberto Quesada López, Representante Permanente de Honduras

Embajador Sebastián Kraljevich Chadwick, Representante Permanente de Chile

Embajador Luis Ernesto Vargas, Representante Permanente de Colombia

Embajador Francisco O. Mora, Representante Permanente de los Estados Unidos

Embajador Gustavo Adrianzén, Representante Permanente del Perú

Primera Secretaria Judith-Anne Rolle, Representante Interina del Commonwealth de Dominica

Consejera Sonia Rosita Boddie-Thompson, Representante Interina de Saint Kitts y Nevis

Ministra Consejera Joy-Dee Davis Lake, Representante Alterna de Antigua y Barbuda

Ministra Consejera Christobelle Elaine Reece, Representante Alterna de Barbados

Consejera Sonia Rosita Boddie-Thompson, Representante Interina de Saint Kitts y Nevis

Ministra Consejera Joy-Dee Davis Lake, Representante Alterna de Antigua y Barbuda

Ministra Consejera Christobelle Elaine Reece, Representante Alterna de Barbados

Segunda Secretaria Juanita Cleopatra Santusha Lont, Representante Alterna de Suriname

Primera Secretaria Shirnaya Valin Stephen, Representante Alterna de Santa Lucía

Ministra Consejera Alicia Arbelbide Costas, Representante Alterna del Uruguay

Ministro Aurimar Jacobino de Barros Nunes, Representante Alterno del Brazil

Primer Secretario Lucio Edgar Mamani Quispe, Representante Alterno de Bolivia

Consejera Venessa Ramhit-Ramroop, Representante Alterna de Trinidad y Tobago

Segundo Secretario Ignacio Cazaña Portella, Representante Alterno del Paraguay

Ministra Nicholette Erane Simoni Williams, Representante Alterna de Jamaica

También estuvo presente el Secretario General de la Organización, señor Luis Almagro Lemes, y el Secretario General Adjunto, Embajador Nestor Mendez, Secretario del Consejo Permanente.

El PRESIDENTE: Permanent, interim and alternate representatives, Secretary General, Assistant Secretary General, permanent observers, members of the General Secretariat, distinguished presenters, sisters and brothers of African descent in the Americas, ladies and gentlemen:[[1]](#footnote-1)/ Good morning, bonjour, bom dia, buenos días.

Welcome. Thank you for being here.

The Secretariat having verified the quorum, I have the honor to declare open this special meeting of the Permanent Council, convened to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, in compliance with General Assembly resolution AG/RES. 2891 (XLVI-O/16) of 2016, and specifically, in compliance with Goal 1 of the Plan of Action for the Decade for Persons of African Descent in the Americas 2016-2025.

This year, our commemoration of this important international day of observance shares the theme for this year’s VI Inter-American Week for People of African Descent in the Americas, which is “Fighting slavery’s legacy of racism through transformative education in the Americas.”

Before proceeding with the approval of the agenda, I would like to take the time to acknowledge and thank our distinguished national authorities and guest speakers for their presence here with us today. I extend to you a cordial welcome on behalf of the Permanent Council.

APROBACIÓN DEL PROYECTO ORDEN DEL DÍA

El PRESIDENTE: We move now to item one on our order of business, which is the adoption of the draft order of business. In accordance with Article 43 of the Rules of Procedure of the Permanent Council, we now proceed to adopt the order of business for this meeting, which has been circulated as document CP/OD-2420/23.

[El proyecto de orden del día contiene los siguientes puntos:

1. Aprobación del orden del día

2. Conmemoración del Día Internacional de Recuerdo de las Víctimas de la Esclavitud y la Trata Trasatlántica de Esclavos

[El proyecto de orden del día contiene los siguientes puntos:

1. Aprobación del orden del día

2. Conmemoración del Día Internacional de Recuerdo de las Víctimas de la Esclavitud y la Trata Trasatlántica de Esclavos

• Palabras del señor Luis Almagro, Secretario General - Presentaciones a cargo de los siguientes ponentes: - Profesor Justin Hansford, miembro del Foro Permanente sobre los Afrodescendientes (PFPAD) de las Naciones Unidas - Excelentísima señora Hilda Suka-Mafudze, Embajadora de la Unión Africana en los Estados Unidos - Señora Erica Williams-Connell, Comisaria de la Colección Conmemorativa Eric Williams, Universidad de las Indias Occidentales, Trinidad y Tobago - Señora Roda Muse, Secretaria General de la Comisión Canadiense para la UNESCO - Señora Velia Vidal Romero, activista, escritora, promotora de lectura y gestora cultural afroindígena de Colombia - Dra. Marixa Lasso, Directora del Centro de Investigaciones Históricas, Antropológicas y Culturales de Panamá - Diálogo de los Estados Miembros con los ponentes - Conclusiones a cargo del Embajador Nestor Mendez, Secretario General Adjunto.]

There being no observations or objections, the Order of Business is hereby approved.

Approved.

CONMEMORACIÓN DEL DÍA INTERNACIONAL DE RECUERDO DE LAS VÍCTIMAS

DE LA ESCLAVITUD Y LA TRATA TRASATLÁNTICA DE ESCLAVOS

El PRESIDENTE: We move now to item two. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, as the Chair of the Permanent Council and as the Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago, I am honored to steer the proceedings of this special meeting.

Thank you all for joining us today to commemorate, amidst the VI Inter-American Week for People of African Descent in the Americas, this special meeting with the permanent representative body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Permanent Council.

The OAS Plan of Action for the Decade for People of African Descent in the Americas (2016-2025), adopted during the forty-sixth regular session of the OAS General Assembly of 2016, was developed in support of the declaration of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent [in the Americas] (2015-2024). It focuses, understandably, on the specific circumstances of people of African descent in the Americas.

In furtherance of the outcomes of the United Nations (UN) Transforming Education Summit, held in September 2022, the UN Remember Slavery Program chose the theme “Fighting slavery’s legacy of racism through transformative education” to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade for this year. The Program highlighted the need for education systems to adapt to the shifting skills needed professionally, making learning more student-centered, connected, dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative.

Consistent with the complimentary practice of building on the theme selected by the UN, with specific focus on the distinctive context of the Americas, we gather today to discuss the efforts of member states and the General Secretariat to harness the power of transformative education to fight slavery’s legacy of racism in our region.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the Office of the Assistant Secretary General for its leadership in advocating for and promoting the celebration of this important commemorative week to coincide with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and for managing all the commemorative activities and events.

I was also pleased to hear the Assistant Secretary General mention at Monday’s inauguration ceremony of this week that this Inter-American Week has now expanded to include a variety of activities, which draw on the collaboration of other areas of the General Secretariat, including the Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity (SARE); the Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI); the Secretariat for Hemispheric Affairs (SHA); the Office of the Strategic Council, and also the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). I applaud this collaborative, General Secretariat-wide initiative, and congratulate the Assistant Secretary General on his leadership.

As we meet here, just one day after another United Nations-declared observance—that being the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination—the assertion that discrimination and prejudice faced by Afro-descendant people and communities in the Americas and around the world is undeniable. Prejudices founded and grounded in ignorance, bigotry, inequitable privilege, and unjust advantage perpetuate stereotypes of Afro-descendants, as well as generate economic, social, and structural barriers on multiple levels. These structural and systematic barriers include territorial stigmatization, historical erasure, cultural misappropriation.

In this august body of the Permanent Council, we have discussed, on multiple occasions, how the COVID‐19 pandemic exposed the inequities which exist for groups in situations of vulnerability, and mainly, people of African descent. As we commemorate more than 200 years of the first abolition of slavery, we are encouraged to reflect on the reasons for the persistence of the complex barriers, including to their right to social justice, that people of African descent continue to face, despite their indispensable and invaluable contributions to all spheres of human life.

Today, we take advantage of this day of remembrance to highlight these obstacles that hinder the full and effective enjoyment of all human rights by all people of African descent, with a view to eradicating structural and systemic racism and racial discrimination, and to reiterate our commitment and resolve to advancing the global cause of racial equality.

I would like to acknowledge at this point the important role that the Inter-American Network on Afro-descendant Population Policies (RIAFRO) plays in this regard. The members of RIAFRO work tirelessly to ensure that people in their countries are aware of the history and the challenges faced by Afro-descendants, and, through imparting this knowledge and working with their governments, they are doing their part to transform perceptions, reframe dialogues, and instigate change. For instance, in Brazil, Colombia and Panama, RIAFRO has been a key partner in assisting these countries with the inclusion of the history of people of African descent in their curriculum.

I look forward to the presentations from our distinguished panel today and also to hearing from you, the member states, on how we use transformative education to fight slavery’s legacy of racism in the Americas. I reiterate my heartfelt appreciation on behalf of the Permanent Council to the Assistant Secretary General, his entire team, and the relevant areas of the General Secretariat for their dedicated contributions and commitment in organizing the activities of the Inter-American Week and today’s special meeting.

Dear colleagues, now, as we follow the order of business, I am pleased to offer the floor to Mr. Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS. Mr. Secretary General, good morning, welcome, you have the floor.

El SECRETARIO GENERAL: Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Querido amigo, Nestor Mendez.

La esclavitud es uno de los legados más infames y traumáticos de nuestra historia como hemisferio occidental.

Este año resaltamos la importancia y conexión entre el Plan de Acción del Decenio y el tema que se ha abordado a lo largo de esta semana, y que hoy nos reúne para reflexionar sobre el rol de la educación transformadora en la lucha contra el legado de la esclavitud en este hemisferio.

Sabemos que durante siglos la trata de esclavos despojó a las personas africanas y a sus descendientes de su humanidad y, como consecuencia, de su derecho a una educación que les permitiera vislumbrar una vida mejor para sí mismos y sus familias.

Durante muchas décadas, millones de personas afrodescendientes en nuestro hemisferio fueron excluidas de los sistemas educativos o relegadas a una educación informal con recursos muy limitados. A su vez, elementos culturales de inconmensurable valor fueron descartados a través de procesos que, aún hoy día, forman parte de muchos sistemas educativos de nuestra región. Procesos que han forjado memoria colectiva y construido nuestras historias sobre narrativas incompletas y, en muchos casos, estigmatizantes contra las personas y comunidades afrodescendientes.

Frente a los múltiples retos que enfrenta la educación en nuestro hemisferio y en el mundo, ir avanzando en un camino hacia una educación transformadora supone que el aprendizaje provenga no solo de procesos formales, sino de un acercamiento a los entornos que permitan a los estudiantes identificarse con su rol en la sociedad como agentes de cambio.

Para eso, se requiere derrumbar las barreras de la discriminación y el racismo sistémico que se han sostenido históricamente.

En su informe sobre los futuros de la educación, lanzado el año pasado, la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO) propone un cambio paradigmático hacia un contrato social para la educación. Este informe reconoce que los derechos humanos deben guiarse en un nuevo contrato social y, en ese contexto, es vital reconocer que nuestras historias están plagadas de momentos en los cuales la educación fue una herramienta de segregación, de exclusión y de discriminación contra las personas afrodescendientes, entre otras minorías.

Hoy, la educación transformadora propone cambiar estas dinámicas y reconocer en la diversidad un componente de valor. Por eso, resulta imprescindible que en espacios como esta sesión extraordinaria del Consejo Permanente, podamos sumar voces y voluntades con miras a construir sistemas de educación transformadoras que no desconozcan o invisibilicen la historia de las personas afrodescendientes, sino que la incorporen y resalten, que, activamente, podamos formar parte de colocar estas voces y perspectivas en el centro de la labor educativa.

La pandemia de COVID-19 nos dejó grandes impactos que hoy se suman a una crisis climática, situaciones socioeconómicas muy complejas y una alta conflictividad en nuestra región y en el mundo.

Para poder abordar los retos que afrontan nuestras generaciones más jóvenes, tenemos el deber de dotarlos con herramientas distintas e innovadoras. Debemos asegurarnos de que, en los enfoques educativos se incorpore una visión de atender los grandes problemas a través de fórmulas colaborativas e inclusivas.

Desde el Plan de Acción del Decenio para las y los Afrodescendientes de las Américas, tenemos, en la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA), la oportunidad de contribuir en ese esfuerzo a través de tres grandes líneas de acción que corresponden al reconocimiento, justicia reparatoria y desarrollo. El Plan de Acción del Decenio sirve de marco para continuar los esfuerzos y conversaciones sobre la historia de las personas afrodescendientes en nuestra región como elemento base de una educación transformadora.

En este sentido, el Plan de Acción del Decenio nos propone la inclusión de la historia de África y de la población afrodescendiente en las Américas, el combate al racismo, la discriminación racial e intolerancia y el enfoque intercultural en la currícula educativa.

Resulta muy valioso que los Estados Miembros puedan recurrir al Plan de Acción del Decenio como un norte y que sirva de herramienta colectiva para impulsar esfuerzos de impacto como lo es una iniciativa que promueva la educación transformadora con enfoque en la población afrodescendiente en el Hemisferio.

A este fin, instamos a los Estados Miembros a dotar de los recursos humanos y financieros para implementar el Plan de Acción del Decenio y fortalecer la institucionalidad afrodescendiente en la región.

Por otra parte, también es prioritario que los Estados Miembros ratifiquen, firmen e implementen la Convención Interamericana contra el Racismo, la Discriminación Racial y Formas Conexas de Intolerancia. Esta Convención es un elemento fundamental de nuestros trabajos y representa el compromiso por un cambio en nuestro hemisferio. Sabemos que en la sociedad civil hay un movimiento importante para impulsar esta Convención.

Con la Secretaría de Acceso a Derechos y Equidad tenemos un brazo dedicado a esta labor y a continuar apoyando esfuerzos con mucha dedicación y dinamismo. Esta causa cuenta con el apoyo y compromiso total de la Secretaría General. Nuestra labor está enfocada en el bienestar de todas las personas de nuestra región, sin distinciones o exclusiones.

Agradezco a las personas invitadas, panelistas, y en especial a mi querida amiga Hilda Suka-Mafudze, por estar acá hoy.

Gracias.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much for your very insightful remarks, Secretary General. Thank you very much.

Distinguished colleagues, we now proceed with the presentations by our distinguished guest presenters, whose bios have been circulated previously by the Secretariat as document CP/INF.9681/23. To begin this commemoration, and following the list in our order of business, it is my pleasure to greet and welcome Professor Justin Hansford, a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, to this Hall of the Americas. Professor Hansford, welcome.

Professor Hansford is accompanied today, as well—you might know that he is also a professor at Howard University—and he is accompanied by a contingent of students from Howard University, and I thought we should pause and give them a warm welcome to the Hall of the Americas.

[Aplausos.]

Professor Hansford, thank you very much for your support for this special meeting, and you have the floor.

[Aplausos.]

Professor Hansford, thank you very much for your support for this special meeting, and you have the floor.

El MIEMBRO DEL FORO PERMANENTE SOBRE LOS AFRODESCENDIENTES DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS: Alright, thank you so much for the invitation, and I would like to thank the Secretary General and the Chair for selecting such an appropriate theme for this week “Fighting slavery’s legacy of racism through transformative education in the Americas.”

As mentioned, I am a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent. Our next session will be held on May 30 at the United Nations in New York. I encourage all members to join us, because one of the issues we will be discussing is in line with the topic of this week.

This topic speaks to two important ideas that I want to address very briefly. One, is understanding that racism is inherited through slavery, and I want to introduce the concept of racism as one of slavery’s afterlives. Two, is the promise of transformative education as a mode of combat against racism, as my students can attest to in this Hall today.

The concept of racism is perhaps one of the most misunderstood ideas in the world today. Are racist people only those who use slurs and are intentionally biased? Does racism include unconscious bias? Can racism be reversed? Can there be both racism by Black people against white people, as opposed to white versus Black and so on?

One of the most forceful thinkers on the issue of racism is the scholar and writer Saidiya Hartman, who coined the concept of the “afterlife of slavery” in her book Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route. The scholar Ibram X. Kendi also gestures towards the same concept in his book Stamped from the Beginning. This concept of slavery’s afterlife is crucial to understanding how the racial logic of slavery held a notion of Black inferiority, which was not only crucial to justifying the project of slavery but has become one of the cornerstones of our culture.

While the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution here in the United States ended legalized slavery, at least for those not convicted of a crime, no such edicts had the force to abolish the logic of Black inferiority, which is part of the afterlife of slavery. Racism in the context of anti-Blackness is thereby a cultural artifact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It continues to manifest itself every day, in the valuation of homes as less valuable if the homeowner is Black, in the education system and in the employment system, in some cases even in the health care system.

Here in the United States, for example, the question of maternal healthcare has been one that has been raised recently in our discussion, and we know that about sixty-nine of every 100,000 Black mothers experiences maternal mortality in the United States, where only twenty-three white mothers experience that same outcome. Surveys have shown that the reason for this disparity is not race, but racism. The reason for that disparity involves a determination by many white doctors that Blacks have higher thresholds of pain and things of that nature.

So, this understanding of racism as an artifact of slavery leads us to the second question. How can we combat this artifact of slavery? If we are going to understand racism as an artifact of slavery, how do we understand questions of reverse racism?

Well, to speak on the second of those two questions very briefly, it should seem apparent that efforts to remedy racial disparities like affirmative action, when implemented in such a way to, for example, limit access to higher education for those who are not included in a diversity initiative would not be an afterlife of slavery. Also, failing to collect data on populations of Afro-descent in a particular country is also not an afterlife of slavery event. It would not be seen as a racial activity. That is one of the agenda points of the Permanent Forum, which is to encourage the project of obtaining disaggregated data for Afro-populations throughout the world, including throughout the Western Hemisphere, so that we can take note of any disparities and begin to bridge disparities in these countries.

So, I will say in closing, very briefly, that I have the honor of teaching at Howard University School of Law, one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities here in the United States. When you enter our building, when you walk up the staircase to the second floor, you will see a quote from Nelson Mandela, which reads, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Now, we live in a country today where education about people of African descent is being banned in parts of our nation. It is being derided as “woke education” and “critical race theory.”

Last month, during Black History Month here in the United States, President Biden stated that it is important to say, from the White House for the entire country to hear: “History matters. History matters and Black history matters.” That is one of the best statements he has ever made. The suppression of stories is integral to the American narrative not only robs us all of important historical lessons, but warps our vision of ourselves and our future, making all of our lives less rich.

There is a book by scholar Tanya K. Hernández which talks about the importance of recognizing that oftentimes racism travels, and her book is entitled Racial Innocence: Unmasking Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality. In the state of Florida, in the state of Texas, in the state of Arizona, where race theory bans have been some of the most virulent, we have found the need to form coalitions between populations in the diaspora from Latin America and Afro populations in order to make sure that both anti-Black bias and bias against teaching the history of peoples of Latin America continues to be part of our curriculum, and continues to be part of our cultural heritage that we have passed down to future generations.

So, with that, I will conclude my remarks but thank you so much for your invitation. I look forward to seeing you all at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Peoples of African descent on April 30 at the United Nations in New York.

Thank you so much.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much for your presentation, Professor Hansford.

So, with that, I will conclude my remarks but thank you so much for your invitation. I look forward to seeing you all at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Peoples of African descent on April 30 at the United Nations in New York.

Thank you so much.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much for your presentation, Professor Hansford.

You have followed, here at the Hall of the Americas, the President of Howard University, who you may be aware, on February 1, the first day of Black History Month, when as a Permanent Council we took time to commemorate the International Day of Education, Dr. Frederick was right here, sharing his insight with us. So, thank you again for joining us.

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, it is now my pleasure to greet and welcome to the Halls of the Americas, someone who I must confess I have had the honor and privilege to meet before, Her Excellency Hilda Suka-Mafudze, the Ambassador of the African Union to the United States.

Excellency, it is indeed a pleasure to welcome you here to the Hall of the Americas, and you have the floor.

La EMBAJADORA DE LA UNIÓN AFRICANA EN LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS: Thank you very much.

Let me say, His Excellency Mr. Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), distinguished panelists, other Excellencies, the Ambassadors, and the permanent representatives here present, let me acknowledge the presence of countries with observer status, the OAS Secretariat, representatives of the African Union Commission here present, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

Let me start by thanking you for inviting the African Union (AU). We are also very thrilled to be part of this development and part of this meeting. It gives me a deep pleasure to address such a noble audience from the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, held in Washington D.C., from January 20 to April 27, 1890. The AU family greets you all warmly and it congratulates you for making it this far.

Please allow me to acknowledge the great initiative taken by all the 35 member states in the world, as they are approximately thirty observers, and the organizers of this year annual Inter-American Week for People of African Descent in the Americas on the sidelines of the commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. I must say, the theme of “Fighting slavery’s legacy of racism through transformative education in the Americas” resonates with current happenings in the Americas, and in the global sphere, including the African continent.

As proposed on the other platforms, African descendants have faced various levels of discrimination, xenophobia, social exclusion, and racism, which sabotage their development and distort the full utilization of their capacities. In undermining our success, our creativity is hampered. Through constrained institutional action, which cripples our humanity and impedes socioeconomic development, the effort to achieve this fate is grueling, but possible. If we are able to stand together with one voice and support each other as a people globally, the task ahead demands the whole-of-society approach.