Dear President of the General Assembly His Excellency Abdulla Shahid,
Dear President of the Human Rights Council Her Excellency Nazhat Shameem Khan,
Dear High Commissioner of Human Rights Her Excellency Michelle Bachelet,
We, the undersigned civil society organizations across the world who work for the human rights of people of African descent, hereby express our deep and sincere concerns regarding the election by the General Assembly and Human Rights Council of the expert members of the United Nations Permanent Forum of People of African Descent. This includes our views that certain election criteria and qualifications must be upheld for this new mechanism to be deemed legitimate in the eyes of people of African descent worldwide.
Taking note of General Assembly resolution 75/314 on the Establishment of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, and particularly Article 2 that establish criteria and qualifications for members of the Forum: “the Permanent Forum shall consist of 10 members: 5 members to be nominated by Governments, based on equitable geographical distribution, and elected by the General Assembly and 5 members to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council following consultation with the Bureau and the regional groups through their coordinators, on the basis of broad consultations with the organizations of people of African descent, membership shall take into account the diversity and geographical distribution of the global African diaspora, ensuring gender parity as well as the principles of transparency, representativity and equal opportunity for all people of African descent, and all members shall serve in their personal capacity as independent experts on issues of people of African descent for a period of three years with the possibility of re-election or reappointment for one further period.”
It is critical to the relevance and legitimacy of the Permanent Forum that the criteria and qualifications expressed in resolution 75/314 be adhered to fully—especially the following criteria:
(1) An equitable geographical distribution, and taking into account the diversity and geographical distribution of people of African descent in the world,
(2) Gender parity
(3) Principles of transparency, representativity, and equal opportunity for all people of African descent,
(4) All members shall serve in their personal capacity as independent experts on issues of people of African descent.
Regarding the first (1) of these criteria, it should be noted that this is a Permanent Forum ofPeople of African Descent. The expectation by civil society is that the members will, therefore, in line with the expressed criteria, all be persons of African descent. Moreover, the 10 members to be elected by the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council should not be interpreted as two members for each of the five regional groups of the United Nations. An equitable regional representation of people of African descent across the world, will not be achieved by giving, for example, the Eastern European states and the Latin American and Caribbean states two representatives each. Rather, the regional representation of the Forum should reflect the geographic distribution and concentration of people of the African diaspora. For instance, the fact that the highest concentration of people of African descent is to be found in the Americas and Western Europe should be reflected in the membership of the Forum— While also including other regions where there are significant populations of Africa descent such as Oceania, South Asia, and the Indian Ocean islands. Furthermore, given the critical role of the Caribbean in the history of people of African descent and that there are at least 40 million people of African descent in this region—it should not be subsumed under a regional group of Latin American and Caribbean countries with the risk of lacking proper representation on the Forum.
Regarding the second (2) of these criteria, it should be emphasized that gender equity is critical to the election of Forum members.
Regarding the third (3) of these criteria, we are deeply concerned that already in this first round of nominations there seems to be insufficient transparency, representativity, and equal opportunity of all people of African descent. The President of the Human Rights Council has given civil society less than 30 days to nominate candidates. This is too little time for a broad, comprehensive, and equal participation of civil society in the nomination process. Furthermore, the election process is atypical of processes to appoint Experts to mechanisms under the Human Rights Council—which usually go through several stages, including an interview stage, before reaching the President of the Human Rights Council. We call on the General Assembly and Human Rights Council to extend the deadline for nominations, ensure that the process is fully transparent, based on clearly defined criteria, and one that includes interviews.
Regarding the fourth (4) and possibly the most important criteria, it is inappropriate for government representatives or persons who recently vacated government positions to be nominated and stand for election to the Permanent Forum. For members of the Forum to serve in their personal capacity as independent experts on issues of people of African descent, it is critical that they be from civil society (broadly understood as to also include universities and national human rights institutions). It is also critical that they truly be experts on the human rights of people of African descent, including having intimate knowledge of global African diasporas, with a documented and proven track record of having such expertise.
We, the undersigned, are calling on the General Assembly and Human Rights Council to guarantee that members of the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent meet the qualifications established by UN resolution 75/314 and are able to adequately represent the lived experiences of the African Diaspora. In this spirit, we call on the General Assembly, Human Rights Council, and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take the necessary time to ensure the integrity of the Forum and a grand opening in 2022.
Signed by,
1. Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland, Ireland
2. African Anti-racism society Finland, Finland
3. African Canadian Heritage Association, Canada
4. African Centre for Refugees in Ontario-Canada, Canada
5. African Futures Action Lab, USA
6. Africana Institute for Creativity Recognition and Elevation, USA
7. African-European Development Agency, Sweden
8. AfroEmpowermentCenter, Denmark
9. Afrodiaspora Global, USA
10. AfroPoderosas, Costa Rica
11. ARC Gambia, Gambia
12. Asociación de afrodescendientes Nelson Mandela ASAFRONELMAN, Colombia
13.Asociacion de Mujeres de la Costa de Oaxaca A.C. (AMCO A.C.), México
14.Asociación social de negritudes del municipio de Arauca (ASOMUNEAR), Colombia
15.Baderinaa Kokumo, United Kingdom
16. Black Alliance for Peace, USA
17. Black Archives Sweden, Sweden
18. Black German Heritage & Research Association, USA
19. Black Lives Matter Sweden (BLMSWE), Sweden
20. Brighton and Hove Black Women's Group, UK
21. California Black Agriculture Working Group, USA
22. Cameroon Network of Women with Disabilities, Cameroon
23. Canadian Gambian Youth Development Association, Canada
24.Carrefour des femmes et familles, Canada
25.Centro de Estudios Afronexicanos Tembembe, México
26.Centro Familiar Afro Santeño, Panamá
27. Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, USA
28. COBA, Canada
29. Community Renewal Society, USA
30.Comunidad de religiones de matriz afro en la matanza Argentina, Argentina
31.Cruz de Mayo Ventura Baluarte y Descendientes, Chile
32. Drawdown Markham, Canada
33. Ed Consulting UK, UK
34. Edfu Foundation Inc., USA
35. EHD Advisory, USA
36. English International Association of Lund, Sweden
37. Equitable Action for Change, Canada
38. European Network of People of African Descent (ENPAD), UK and Europe
39. Evangelical church Salem, Benin
40.Fédération Panafricaine des Associations et Clubs de l'Union Africaine (FEPAC/UA), Burkina Faso
41. Five Points Youth Foundation, USA
42.Fonsanpotma Forum Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional
dos Povos Tradicionais de Matriz Africana, Brazil
43.Fundación Deportiva del Pacífico Sur FUNDEPACS, Colombia
44.Fundacion Sayra Huellas Humanas, Colombia
45. Global Afrikan Congress UK, UK
46. Global Black Collective, Brazil
47.Global reConnections, USA
48.Hand in Hand tegen Racisme vzw, Belgium
49. Healing Paradigm LLC, USA
50.Ilé Àṣẹ Ọmọlú àti Òṣún, Brazil
51. Ingwee, Belgium
52. Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW21), USA
53. International Institue of Family Development, USA
54. Ishmael Mkhabela, South Africa
55. Justice Afrikan History, UK
56. Justice Fund Toronto, Canada
57. Líderes Unidos La Palma AC, México
58.MaCTRI (MEaP Academy Community Training & Research Institute),
United Kingdom
59.Malu Ngalula Chantal, Belgique
60.Mano Amiga de la Costa Chica, México
61.México Negro A.C., México
62.Ministério Publico do Trabalho, Brazil
63.Mother of peace Regent Park, Canada
64.Mothers of peace Regent Park, Canada
65.Movimiento Federalista Pan Africano América Latina y el Caribe (MFPA/ALC.), Ecuador
66.Mulika Afrika, Tanzania
67.National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC), USA
68.National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America - New England Chapter, USA
69.National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), USA
70.NH Black Women Health Project, USA
71.Observatory of Justice for Afrodescendants in Latin America (OJALA), USA and Latin America
72.OLLIE Initiative, USA
73.Ontario Association of social workers school social work advisory, Canada
74.Organización No Gubernamental de Desarrollo de Afrodescendientes, Chile
75.Oro Negro, Chile
76.Oya Black Arts Coalition, Canada
77.Parable of the Sower Intentional Community Cooperative, USA
78.Pessoa Física, Brazil
79.Positive Change Toronto Initiative, Canada
80.Red Nacional de Juventudes Afromexicanas, México
81.Rede de Matriz Africana (REMA), Brazil
82.Rede Nacional de Mulheres Negras no Combate á Violência, Brazil
83.Revolutionary Socialist League, Kenya
84.Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre - RCHC, Canada
85.Salifu Dagarti Foundation (SDF), UK
86.Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, USA
87.Sons and Daughters of Africa, USA
88.Sozo Consulting, Ethiopia
89.Sussex Racial Equality Action Project, UK
90.U.S. Africa Institute, USA
91.Ujeengo Global Community, Canada
92.UNA USA – Gainesville Florida Chapter, USA
93.UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab | People of African Descent & the SDGs, international online group
94.United Church of Canada, Canada
95.US Human Rights Cities Alliance, USA
96.Världskultur [World Culture], Sweden
97.Virgin Islands Youth Advisory Council, Virgin Islands (USA)
98.Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), USA
99.Women Reform Organization, Nigeria
100. Women's All Points Bulletin (WAPB), USA
101. Yes, Canada
102. Your Black Matters, USA
103. Youth Now on Track Services (YNOT), Canada