Side event entitled “Towards UN Declaration on the promotion and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent”

An event, titled “Towards a UN Declaration on the Promotion and Full Respect of the Human Rights of People of African Descent” co-organized by the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan, as well as Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti and Peru, in partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was held within UN Human Rights Council’s 38th session in Geneva, Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry’s press service said.

After the opening remarks by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, several presentations were made on the topic. In particular, E. Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Pastor Murillo, Vice-Chairperson, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Michal Balcerzak, Chairperson, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Elizabeth Kaneza, OHCHR Senior fellow of the fellowship program for people of African descent, have made certain recommendations.

Yalchin Rafiyev, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, addressing the session, spoke of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations.

Rafiyev, in particular, stated that Azerbaijan is dismayed about the reality that people of African descent continue to suffer from many multiple, aggravated and intersecting forms of discrimination which eventually leads to their unequal access to key educational resources, including the skilled teachers and quality curricula. Despite the existence of copious evidence that in some states students of African descent routinely receive dramatically different learning opportunities based on their social status, the Republic of Azerbaijan, throughout its history, provided every opportunity for the people of African descent to study in Azerbaijan with the financial assistance of both the Government and the charity NGOs, in particular Heydar Aliyev Foundation. “We are honored that, nowadays, a number of African state leaders and ambassadors of African countries in Geneva have studied in Azerbaijan. Educational institutions of Azerbaijan continue to offer scholarships for the students of African descent”, he stressed.

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