People of African descent twice as likely to die from Covid-19, according to the UN. “People of African descent suffer unacceptable violence, including from the police. They rely on often inadequate basic infrastructure services; disproportionately lack adequate access to quality education, health and social protection services and are less likely than others to find decent work, ”according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.

On January 1, 2015, the United Nations launched the International Decade for People of African Descent in line with the Durban Declaration of 2001. Five years later, United Nations member states took stock of actions they have taken to raise the profile of people of African descent and contribute to substantial progress in the promotion and protection of their rights.

Twenty years ago, the Durban Declaration highlighted the obstacles to the recognition of people of African descent: a glaring lack of political will, weak legislation, a lack of implementation strategies and concrete action on the part of states, as well as the prevalence of racist attitudes and negative stereotypes.

Despite the measures taken by several countries over the past five years, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, believes that there is still a lot of work to be done on all these issues and that we cannot dismantle centuries of racism in a decade. She regrets “that no state has yet adopted comprehensive measures that recognize, address or sufficiently mitigate past crimes and their living legacy of discrimination, exploitation and suffering”.

People of African descent continue to suffer from greater poverty. “They are subjected to unacceptable violence, including from the police. They rely on often inadequate basic infrastructure services; disproportionately lack adequate access to quality education, health and social protection services and are less likely than others to find decent work,”Bachelet said.