Cities Support the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
Webinar recordings-Background on PFPAD
From December 4-9 2022 the United Nations launched the first meeting of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, a new body charged with guiding the UN in work to end racial discrimination and systemic racism and to develop concrete steps and action plans to improve the well being of all people of the African diaspora. Delegate Justin Hansford sees the Forum as a potential "instrument of liberation" that will require continued struggle by grassroots communities to push forward needed changes. Our Human Rights Cities Alliance is committed to working to support local actions that reinforce the Forum's work and engage cities and municipal officials in its transformative agenda.
- *Slideshow: International Civil Society and the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent -An introduction to the Permanent Forum and how human rights advocates in civil society can engage with it. (ICSWG/PFPAD)
- *The African Diaspora Convenes on the World Stage & Calls for Reparatory Justice (Webinar recording) Report-back webinar on the Inaugural session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Advocates who attended PFPAD will share their observations and offer ideas for how this new body can be a tool for building local and national movements to end white supremacy and advance racial justice. Panelists: Lisa Borden, Senior Policy Counsel, International Advocacy and Policy, Southern Poverty Law Center; Charkera Ervin, Howard University School of Law/ Movement Lawyering Clinic; Efia Nwangaza, SNCC Veteran, Civil/Human Rights Attorney, Director Malcolm X Center for Self Determination; Tiffany Williams Roberts, Director of Public Policy Unit, Southern Center for Human Rights; Gretchen Rohr, US-Liaison and Global Strategic Litigation Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative. Co-sponsors: U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance, Southern Center for Human Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Ubuntu Institute for Community Development, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, Global Studies Center & the Center for African Studies, University of Pittsburgh
- Using the Human Rights Framework for Racial Justice: A Conversation with Justin Hansford--(Recording) After Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri, Justin Hansford helped Brown family members bring their appeal for justice to the United Nations See Ferguson to Geneva. This conversation brings together Black community leaders, advocates, and educators to discuss this effort and understand how global human rights law can be a tool for social transformation. Justin Hansford is Professor of Law at Howard University, Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, and representative to the new United Nations Permanent Forum of People of African Descent (UNPFPAD). Professor Hansford’s visit to Pittsburgh was part of a “listening tour” he made in preparation for the inaugural meeting of the UNPFPAD in early December.Panelists: Dr. Rashad Williams, University of Pittsburgh (Host), Tiffany Williams Roberts, Director of Public Policy Unit, Southern Center for Human Rights (Atlanta) & Steering Committee member, U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance; Randall Taylor, Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition
Official Websites and documents
- Permanent Forum of People on African Descent Website
- See all the Forum member, State party, and NGO statements on the Forum’s website
- Address by Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee member, Ms. Tiffany Roberts of the Southern Center for Human Rights to the Inaugural Meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, December 8, 2022 (~3 min.) This intervention includes an invitation on behalf of the U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee to members of the Permanent Forum to attend the May 2022 Human Rights Cities Leadership Summit in Atlanta, where Black-led organizations will gather to explore ways to build upon and support the work of the Permanent Forum.
- Concept Note on the Thematic Discussions
- Declaration on the human rights of people of African descent (Background)
- Draft text: UN Declaration on Rights of People of African Descent
- Forum members' Preliminary Submission towards the UN Declaration on the Rights of People of African Descent discusses its proposals for what should be included in the Declaration, centering the importance of reparatory justice.
Live recordings of Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) inaugural meeting can be found at the following links:
Background Documents and History of UN Advocacy for the African Diaspora
- Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (2002)
- FILM: "Durban 400": Reparations and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action Documentary film on the 2001 World Conference Against Racism.
- Resources on National Human Rights Institution -Part of presentation for side-event at the 2nd meeting of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent in New York City, Creating Structures for Accountability: A National Human Rights Institution for the United States.
