CELEBRATING PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
The United Nations celebrated the International Day for people of African Descent on August 31. Africa’s status as the world’s backwater may have endured thanks to a skewed international legal order and self-sabotage. But it is incontestable that some of the world’s brightest lights trace their ancestry to the continent.
From Nelson Mandela to Desmond Tutu to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Africa is well and truly a continent of global icons. It Is not just on the continent that Africans and people of African descent have stood tall. Around the world, in many spheres of life, people of African descent have distinguished themselves to show that they are up to speed with modern realities. Honoring their contributions is key to keeping the world going.
The International Day for People of African Descent was celebrated for the first time on 31 August 2021.
The chief aim of celebrating this day is to promote the extraordinary contributions of the African diaspora around the world and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people of African descent.
In 2015, the International Decade for People of African Descent was declared to run until 2024. The International Decade aims to celebrate the important contributions of people of African descent worldwide, advance social justice and inclusion policies, eradicate racism and intolerance, promote human rights, and assist in creating better, more prosperous communities, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals spearheaded by the United Nations.
The year 2020 marked the midterm of the International Decade for People of African Descent. While some progress has been made at legislative, policy and institutional levels, people of African descent continue to suffer intersectional and compounded forms of racial discrimination, marginalization, and exclusion.
Five years into the Decade, the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the urgency to address long-standing structural inequalities and systematic racism in health. The lack of recognition remains one of the major barriers impeding the full and effective enjoyment of human rights by people of African descent.
The year 2020 also marked a turning point in the way these issues are being addressed at international and national levels. The murder of George Floyd in the United States galvanized people to protest racism and racial discrimination and prompted important global discussions on racial justice.
On 19 June 2020, the Human Rights Council adopted the resolution on the “Promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers”.
Pursuant to this resolution, the High Commissioner for Human Rights presented to the Human Rights Council at its 47th Session her agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality.
There is a surfeit of sobering evidence that despite their remarkable contributions to the advancement in world spheres, Black people and people of African descent continue to face discrimination as a result 9f their skin and race.
The alarming surge of discrimination against Black people has predictably led to the deepening of the inequality gaps.
This has led to increasing tension. In a bid to douse tension, improve equality and generally lead to a fairer and more just world, there has been an increasing emphasis on racial equality and ending all forms of racial discrimination.
Building a just world necessarily means that the contributions of all people to global peace, equality, and prosperity is respectfully recognized despite their skin colour. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized.
Ike Willie-Nwobu,
