In 2001 the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) recognized that people of African descent have for centuries been victims of racism, racial discrimination and enslavement. It therefore spoke to the importance and necessity of ensuring their full integration into social, economic and political life. While great strides have been made towards such integration in many societies where there are people of African descent, much more progress needs to be achieved.
In an effort to continue to focus on the conditions of people of African descent, the United Nations has declared the year 2011 as the “International Year for people of African descent.” Coincidentally, 2011 will also mark the bicentennial of independence for Cartagena, Colombia. Cartagena’s bicentennial follows on the celebration of 200 years of independence in other “Bolivarian States” in 2010. With these important commemorative moments in mind, SEPHIS, in collaboration with the Institute of Caribbean Studies, University of Cartagena will host a 3-day Conference on “Equity, Justice, Development: People of African Descent in Latin America in Comparative Perspective” from March 24-26, 2011. The Conference will also coincide with the UN declared “International Day for Remembering the Victims of the Slave Trade” on 25th March.
The Conference will provide an opportunity to assess the progress of people of African descent in Latin America over the last 200 years, especially in multi-ethnic societies where they still form an ethnic minority. There are approximately 150 million people of African descent in Latin America, representing about one-third of the total population. This means that there are almost four times as many people of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean than indigenous people, who number about 40 million. In a region characterized by great disparities between wealth and poverty, a disproportionate number of African descendants suffer a lack of infrastructure and utilities and are exposed to structural discrimination. Indeed, it has been estimated that Afro-descendants make up over 40 per cent of the poor in Latin America while being only a third of the population…
More in the Call For Papers attached below.