A UN meeting open to all that feeds into government decisions
Once a year, the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent gathers either at the Palais des Nations in Geneva or United Nations headquarters in New York. It brings together governments, UN entities, experts, civil society, and even private citizens who care about racial justice, to share their experience and talk through practical steps to advance the rights of people of African descent.
What is the Permanent Forum?
The Forum is a large, open consultation of people of African descent and others engaged in the topic. It was created by the UN General Assembly in 2021 to hear and understand the lived experiences of Africans and people of African descent across the globe. Its goal is to share evidence and ideas and turn these into recommendations that can guide the work of the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. The Forum meets once a year, and it was established to be permanent, meaning there is no end date for its annual consultations. It is usually divided into several panel discussions featuring experts and interventions from the floor, providing an opportunity for each participant to contribute to the discussion.
Who are “people of African descent”?
Naturally, Africans are people of African descent, along with the descendants of the more than 30 million people who were captured in Africa as slaves and brought to other continents. But the Forum also hears from people or family members of people who more recently migrated from Africa or who have mixed heritage.
Why does the Forum matter?
The Forum is special because of its broad participation, set up to gather perspectives that cannot always be captured in more formal UN debates. For non-governmental organizations (NGOs), there is even a fund to support their participation.
The discussions are designed to be wide ranging, and the report produced at the end of each session contains conclusions and recommendations to the UN which reflect this broad participation.
Your observations and conclusions at this Forum will be crucial to inform next steps.
Our humanity is bound together – and together, we can dismantle systemic injustice against people of African descent.
Human Rights Chief Volker Türk at the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
What happened at the 2026 meeting?
From 14 to 17 April 2026, the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent met for its fifth session. More than 700 individuals, in addition to the numerous government representatives, participated in the discussions.
This year’s debates focused on reparatory justice – the question of whether the great-grandchildren of slaves should receive financial or other forms of compensation for the stolen labour of their ancestors, lost cultural identities, broken family bonds and the structural disadvantages many still face today. But reparatory justice spans many more actions: governments assuming responsibility for their colonial past and reinforcing anti-racism laws today, heritage items being returned to their countries of origin, ethnic minorities being better represented in politics, research, business and so on.
One panel examined the challenges faced by young people of African descent in particular. It highlighted how education systems often misrepresent such young people or treat them unfairly, limiting their opportunities in the job market. The discussion also addressed racial profiling and the lack of representation and recognition of these young people in public institutions and political life. The panel focused on identifying ways to challenge discriminatory patterns and promote fairer treatment and inclusion.
The session report of the fifth session will be presented to the Human Rights Council at its 63rd session in September and October 2026 and to the General Assembly’s 81st session, running from September to December 2026. The ideas that have been developed during these consultations will be presented to Member States for their follow-up.
More information
How can I participate?
Participants in the sixth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent in 2027 will need to register at least a few days before the event. More concrete session information can be found on the meetings calendar of the UN Human Rights office in early 2027.