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The United Nations (UN) estimates that approximately "200 million people identifying themselves as being of African descent live in the Americas." Congress has long demonstrated interest in the status of Afro-descendants abroad through its legislation and hearings (e.g., H.Con.Res. 175 ([109th Congress)] and its related 2005 hearing). From 1993-2024Since 1993, the U.S. Department of State included a section on "National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities," in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to Congress.has published Country Reports on Human Rights Practices annually for Congress; up until 2024, the report included a section on "National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities." This CRS Insight focuses on global resources that relate to the human rights of Afro-descendants of Latin America, including socioeconomic status (Table 1), international organizations (Table 2), and international declarations and conventions (Table 3). The resources below are listed in reverse chronological order of publication, and many are also available in one or more foreign languages.
This CRS Insight uses the umbrella term "Afro-descendant.." The World Bank's 2018 report Afro-descendants in Latin America: Toward a Framework of Inclusion details that the term was "first adopted by regional Afro-descendant organizations in the early 2000s, and describes people united by a common ancestry but living in very dissimilar conditions."
For Latin America's Afro-descendants, human rights challenges are intertwined with socioeconomics. The 2002 UN Durban Declaration emphasized that, "poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion and economic disparities are closely associated with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and contribute to the persistence of racist attitudes and practices which in turn generate more poverty." For example, the World Bank's LAC Equity Lab's June 2025 updatelatest data illustrates that in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay, a higher percentage of Afro-descendants are poor (living on less than $8.30 per day in 2021 purchasing power parity terms), compared to the total population; statistics. Statistics also compare population growth, educational attainment, access to water, electricity, internet, and more.
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Title |
Author |
Resource Type |
|
Afro-descendant |
Sushma Shrestha Sangat et al., in Communications Earth & Environment |
Journal article |
|
LAC Equity Lab: Ethnicity ( |
World Bank |
Website with data on socio-demographics, poverty, and access to services. |
|
People of African |
UN Food and Agricultural Organization and UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean |
Report examines rural Afro-descendant demographics, living conditions, collective rights, and the role of women. |
|
Rights and Resources Initiative, Process of Black Communities, Pontifical Universidad Javeriana's Observatory of Ethnic and Campesino Territories, and National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities |
Trilingual atlas examines the territorial presence of Afro-descendants in 15 Latin American countries, status of territorial rights, and contributions to conservation efforts. |
|
|
Rights and Resources Initiative, Process of Black Communities, Pontifical Universidad Javeriana's Observatory of Ethnic and Campesino Territories, and National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities |
Report examines the territorial presence of Afro-descendants in 16 Latin American countries. |
|
|
Maternal Health |
UN Population Fund, UN Children's Fund, UN Women, Pan American Health Organization, and the National Birth Equity Collaborative |
Report compares data across the Americas about Afro-descendant women's maternal health and provides analysis and recommendations. |
|
Germán Freire et al., World Bank Group |
Report examines educational disparities across several countries and its relationship to regional sustainable growth. |
|
|
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights |
Report covers the challenges of statistical visibility, |
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Pan American Health Organization |
Report identifies key data gaps on Afro-descendent health in the region |
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Several international organizations have expressed concern about the human rights of Afro-descendants (Table 2). In 1966, the UN proclaimed March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and since then, the UN has adopted January 24 as World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture, July 25 as International Day for Women and Girls of African Descent, and August 31 as International Day for People of African Descent. In August 2021, the UN . In August 2021, the General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution that established the UN Permanent Forum of People of African Descent. This advisory body works with the UN Human Rights Council and held its thirdfifth session in April 20242026. The UN and the Organization of American States (OAS) also have rapporteurs, —established in 1993 and 2005, respectively, which—that work to combat racial discrimination through various means. Since 1996, the OAS' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has held over 100 hearings on the Rights of Afro-Descendants/Against Racial Discrimination, and may recommend cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Table 2. Rights of Afro-descendants in Latin America: Selected Resources from International Organizations
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Title |
Author |
Resource Type |
||
|
OHCHR and the Second International Decade for People of African Descent |
United Nations |
Website with UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean |
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|
Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons of African Descent and |
Organization of American States |
Website with reports, hearings, and press releases. |
||
|
Special Rapporteur on |
United Nations |
Website with thematic and country reports. |
||
|
United Nations |
Website with thematic and country reports. |
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Various international organizations have issued declarations and conventions concerning Afro-descendants' human rights (Table 3). In 20242025, a UN working group reported on its ongoing work drafting a "Declaration on the Promotion and Full Respect of the Human Rights of People of African Descent."
Table 3. Selected International Declarations and Conventions regardingRegarding Human Rights of Afro-descendants of Latin America
|
Title |
Author |
Date Date of |
|
Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance |
Organization of American States |
June 5, 2013 February 20, 2020 |
|
Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance |
Organization of American States |
June 5, 2013 November 11, 2017 |
|
World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance: Declaration and Programme of Action (also known as the Durban Conference) |
United Nations |
2002 (See also related |
|
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
November 27, 1978 |
|
|
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination |
United Nations |
December 21, 1965 January 4, 1969 |
Source: Compiled by CRS.