| Declaration
13. We
acknowledge that slavery and the slave trade, including the
transatlantic slave trade, were appalling tragedies in the history of
humanity not only because of their abhorrent barbarism but also in terms
of their magnitude, organized nature and especially their negation of
the essence of the victims, and further acknowledge that slavery and the
slave trade are a crime against humanity and should always have been so,
especially the transatlantic slave trade and are among the major sources
and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance, ahnd that Africans and people of African descent,
Asians and people of Asian descent and indigenous peoples were victims
of these acts and continue to be victims of their consequences;
14. We
recognize that colonialism has led to racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance, and that Africans and people of
African descent, and people of Asian descent and indigenous peoples were
victims of colonialism and continue to be victims of its
consequences. We acknowledge the suffering caused by colonialism
and affirm that, wherever and whenever it occurred, it must be condemned
and its reoccurrence prevented. We further regret that the effects
and persistence of these structures and practices have been among the
factors contributing to lasting social and economic inequalities in many
parts of the world today;
29. We
strongly condemn the fact that slavery and slavery-like practices still
exist today in parts of the world and urge States to take immediate
measures as a matter of priority to end such practices, which constitute
flagrant violations of human rights;
32. We
recognize the value and diversity of the cultural heritage of Africans
and people of African descent and affirm the importance and necessity of
ensuring their full integration into social, economic and political life
with a view to facilitating their full participation at all levels in
the decision-making process;
33. We
consider it essential for all countries in the region of the Americas
and all other areas of the African Diaspora to recognize the existence
of their population of African descent and the cultural, economic,
political and scientific contributions made by that population, and
recognize the persistence of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia
and related intolerance that specifically affect them, and recognize
that, in many countries, their longstanding inequality in terms of
access to, inter alia, education, health care and housing has
been a profound cause of the socio-economic disparities that affect
them;
34. We
recognize that people of African descent have for centuries been victims
of racism, racial discrimination and enslavement and of the denial by
history of many of their rights, and assert that they should be treated
with fairness and respect for their dignity and should not suffer
discrimination of any kind. Recognition should therefore be given
to their rights to culture and their own identity; to participate freely
and in equal conditions in political, social, economic and cultural
life; to development in the context of their own aspirations and
customs; to keep, maintain and foster their own forms of organization,
their mode of life, culture, traditions and religious expressions; to
maintain and use their own languages; to the protection of their
traditional knowledge and their cultural and artistic heritage; to the
use, enjoyment and conservation of the natural renewable resources of
their habitat and to active participation in the design, implementation
and development of educational systems and programmes, including those
of a specific and characteristic nature; and where applicable to their
ancestrally inhabited land;
35. We
recognize that in many parts of the world, Africans and people of
African descent face barriers as a result of social biases and
discrimination prevailing in public and private institutions and express
our commitment to work towards the eradication of all forms of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance faced by
Africans and people of African descent;
99. We
acknowledge and profoundly regret the massive human suffering and the
tragic plight of millions of men, women and children caused by slavery,
the slave trade, the transatlantic slave trade, apartheid, colonialism
and genocide, and call upon States concerned to honour the memory of the
victims of past tragedies and affirm that, wherever and whenever these
occurred, they must be condemned and their recurrence prevented. We
regret that these practices and structures, political, socio-economic
and cultural, have led to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance;
100.
We acknowledge and profoundly regret the untold suffering and evils
inflicted on millions of men, women and children as a result of slavery,
the slave trade, the transatlantic slave trade, apartheid, genocide and
past tragedies. We further note that some States have taken the
initiative to apologize and have paid reparation, where appropriate, for
grave and massive violations committed;
103.
We recognize the consequences of past and contemporary forms of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance as serious
challenges to global peace and security, human dignity and the
realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms of many people in
the world, in particular Africans, people of African descent, people of
Asian descent and indigenous peoples;
104.
We also strongly reaffirm as a pressing requirement of justice that
victims of human rights violations resulting from racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, especially in the
light of their vulnerable situation socially, culturally and
economically, should be assured of having access to justice, including
legal assistance where appropriate, and effective and appropriate
protection and remedies, including the right to seek just and adequate
reparation or satisfaction for any damage suffered as a result of
such discrimination, as enshrined in numerous international and
regional human rights instruments, in particular the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
Programme of Action
4. Urges
States to facilitate the participation of people of African descent in
all political, economic, social and cultural aspects of society and in
the advancement and economic development of their countries, and to
promote a greater knowledge of and respect for their heritage and
culture;
5. Requests
States, supported by international cooperation as appropriate, to
consider positively concentrating additional investments in healthcare
systems, education, public health, electricity, drinking water and
environmental control, as well as other affirmative or positive action
initiatives, in communities of primarily African descent;
6. Calls
upon the United Nations, international financial and development
institutions and other appropriate international mechanisms to develop
capacity-building programmes intended for Africans and people of African
descent in the Americas and around the world;
7. Requests
the Commission on Human Rights to consider establishing a working group
or other mechanism of the United Nations to study the problems of racial
discrimination faced by people of African descent living in the African
Diaspora and make proposals for the elimination of racial discrimination
against people of African descent;
8. Urges
financial and development institutions and the operational programmes
and specialized agencies of the United Nations, in accordance with their
regular budgets and the procedures of their governing bodies:
(a) To
assign particular priority, and allocate sufficient funding, within
their areas of competence and budgets, to improving the situation of
Africans and people of African descent, while devoting special attention
to the needs of these populations in developing countries, inter alia
through the preparation of specific programmes of action;
(b) To
carry out special projects, through appropriate channels and in
collaboration with Africans and people of African descent, to support
their initiatives at the community level and to facilitate the exchange
of information and technical knowhow between these populations and
experts in these areas;
(c) To
develop programmes intended for people of African descent allocating
additional investments to health systems, education, housing,
electricity, drinking water and environmental control measures and
promoting equal opportunities in employment, as well as other
affirmative or positive action initiatives;
9. Requests
States to increase public actions and policies in favour of women and
young males of African descent, given that racism affects them more
deeply, placing them in a more marginalized and disadvantaged situation;
10. Urges
States to ensure access to education and promote access to new
technologies that would offer Africans and people of African descent, in
particular women and children, adequate resources for education,
technological development and longdistance learning in local
communities, and further urges States to promote the full and accurate
inclusion of the history and contribution of Africans and people of
African descent in the education curriculum;
11. Encourages
States to identify factors which prevent equal access to, and the
equitable presence of, people of African descent at all levels of the
public sector, including the public service, and in particular the
administration of justice, and to take appropriate measures to remove
the obstacles identified and also to encourage the private sector to
promote equal access to, and the equitable presence of, people of
African descent at all levels within their organizations;
12. Calls
upon States to take specific steps to ensure full and effective
access to the justice system for all individuals,
particularly those of African descent;
13. Urges
States, in accordance with international human rights standards and
their respective domestic legal framework, to resolve problems of
ownership of ancestral lands inhabited for generations by people of
African descent and to promote the productive utilization of land and
the comprehensive development of these communities, respecting their
culture and their specific forms of decisionmaking;
14. Urges
States to recognize the particularly severe problems of religious
prejudice and intolerance that many people of African descent experience
and to implement policies and measures that are designed to prevent and
eliminate all such discrimination on the basis of religion and belief,
which, when combined with certain other forms of discrimination,
constitutes a form of multiple discrimination;
50. Urges
States to incorporate a gender perspective in all programmes of action
against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance and to consider the burden of such discrimination which
falls particularly on indigenous women, African women, Asian women,
women of African descent, women of Asian descent, women migrants and
women from other disadvantaged groups, ensuring their access to the
resources of production on an equal footing with men, as a means of
promoting their participation in the economic and productive development
of their communities;
118. Urges
the United Nations, other appropriate international and regional
organizations and States to redress the marginalization of Africa's
contribution to world history and civilization by developing and
implementing a specific and comprehensive programme of research,
education and mass communication to disseminate widely a balanced and
objective presentation of Africa's seminal and valuable contribution to
humanity;
157. Recognizes
the efforts of developing countries, in particular the commitment and
the determination of the African leaders, to seriously address the
challenges of poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social
exclusion, economic disparities, instability and insecurity, through
initiatives such as the New African Initiative and other innovative
mechanisms such as the World Solidarity Fund for the Eradication of
Poverty, and calls upon developed countries, the United Nations and its
specialized agencies, as well as international financial institutions,
to provide, through their operational programmes, new and additional
financial resources, as appropriate, to support these initiatives;
158. Recognizes
that these historical injustices have undeniably contributed to the
poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion, economic
disparities, instability and insecurity that affect many people in
different parts of the world, in particular in developing
countries. The Conference recognizes the need to develop programmes
for the social and economic development of these societies and the
Diaspora, within the framework of a new partnership based on the spirit
of solidarity and mutual respect, in the following areas:. . .
Facilitation of welcomed return and resettlement of the descendants of
enslaved Africans;
159. Urges
international financial and development institutions and the operational
programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations to give
greater priority to, and allocate appropriate funding for, programmes
addressing the development challenges of the affected States and
societies, in particular those on the African continent and in the
Diaspora; |
