Consultation on meaningful, inclusive and safe participation of people of African descent in public affairs

Background 

OHCHR-Brussels and The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), through the DisQo Stakeholder Network, presented to the European Commission a document with policy recommendations for the forthcoming post 2025 EU Anti-racism Action Plan. The recommendations were elaborated through a broad consultative process and engagement with people of African descent during an in-person meeting (26-27 July 2024) and validation process (August 2024), as well as with civil society, academia, health practitioners, victims of human rights violations, and stakeholders representing public institutions.  

Among the 6 core recommendations,  the one on “Meaningful involvement of affected communities, academics, experts, international organisations, and all other relevant stakeholders” reflects the very limited and at times tokenistic nature of consultations with civil society on issues related to anti-racism and non-discrimination. Recognising that the current EU Anti-racism Action Plan was not developed by integrating a human rights-based approach – partially because of the lack of participatory mechanisms for its design – the recommendation highlights that meaningful, inclusive and safe participation of people of African descent must be placed at the core of the design and implementation of the post 2025 EU Anti-racism Action Plan. 

This consultation goes in-depth on social participation by engaging directly with civil society organisations concerned by these policies, shedding light on the challenges to meaningful, inclusive and safe participation of people of African descent into policy making, monitoring policy implementation, and evaluating policy impact. In particular, the consultation will focus on how to foster meaningful, inclusive and safe participation of people of African descent in the post 2025 EU Anti-racism Action Plan, including on cultural rights. OHCHR, in collaboration with the European Public Health Alliance, are convening this consultation to build further on previous exchanges with people of African descent