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INSIGHTi
Afro-descendants of Latin America: Selected
Resources
Updated May 2, 2022
The United Nations (U.N.) 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 as seen in legislation and hearings. Since 1993, the Department of State submits
an annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that includes a section on “National/Racial/Ethnic
Minorities.” This CRS Insight focuses on resources that relate to the human rights of Afro-descendants of
Latin America, including connections to socioeconomics, international organizations, and international
declarations and conventions.
This CRS Insight uses the umbrella term “Afro-descendant” rather than country-specific terms such as
“Afro-Cuban” or “Afro-Colombian,” or foreign language terms such as “moreno,” or “pardo.” The World
Bank’s 2018 report Afro-descendants in Latin America: Toward a Framework of Inclusion details that the
term “Afro-descendant” 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 Afro-descendants of Latin America, human rights challenges are intertwined with socioeconomics.
The 2002 U.N. Durban Declaration emphasized “poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social
exclusion and economic disparities are closely associated with racism, racial discrimination ... and
contribute to the persistence of racist attitudes and practices which in turn generate more poverty.” For
example, the World Bank’s LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) Equity Lab published 2019 data
illustrating that in the case studies of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay, a higher percentage
of Afro-descendants are poor (living on less than $5.50 per day in 2011 purchasing power parity terms) as
compared to the national average. In reverse chronological order, Table 1 lists resources related to the
socioeconomic status of Afro-descendants in Latin America.
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CRS INSIGHT
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Table 1. Resources on Socioeconomics of Afro-descendants in Latin America
Title
Author
Resource Type
Economic, Social, Cultural and
Inter-American Commission on Human Report covering the challenges of
Environmental Rights of Persons of
Rights
statistical visibility, Coronavirus
African Descent: Inter-American
Disease 2019 (COVID-19) context,
Standards to Prevent, Combat and
and violence, as well as Inter-American
Eradicate Structural Racial
standards to combat racial
Discrimination (2021)
discrimination
LAC Equity Lab: Ethnicity (last updated
World Bank
Website with data on socio-
2021)
demographics, poverty and access to
services
Children of African descent in Latin
U.N. Economic Commission for Latin
Briefing note on population, childhood
America (2019)
America and the Caribbean
inequalities, health and education
indicators
Afro-descendants in Latin America:
World Bank
Report covering terms, population
Toward a Framework of Inclusion
distribution, poverty, and education
(2018)
Mujeres afrodescendientes en América
U.N. Economic Commission for Latin
Report on Afro-descendant women’s
Latina y el Caribe: Deudas de igualdad
America and the Caribbean
economic, physical and decision making
(2018)
autonomy (Available in Spanish and
Portuguese only)
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Several international organizations have expressed concern about the human rights of Afro-descendants.
In 1966, the U.N. proclaimed March 21st as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination. In August 2021, a unanimously adopted resolution established the United Nations
Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, a 10-member advisory body that works with the U.N.
Human Rights Council. The U.N. and the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) also have
rapporteurs, established in 1993 and 2005, respectively, which work to combat racial discrimination
through various means. The O.A.S.’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights holds hearings, some
categorized under the Rights of Afro-Descendants/Against Racial Discrimination. In some instances, the
Commission may recommend cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Table 2 lists resources
from international organizations regarding the rights of Afro-descendants of Latin America.
Table 2. Resources on International Organizations and Afro-descendants in Latin America
Title
Author
Resource Type
International Decade for People of
United Nations
Website with resources, events,
African Descent 2015-2024
regional meeting information and more
Rapporteurship on the Rights of
Organization of American States
Website with reports, hearings, and
Persons of African Descent and against
press releases
Racial Discrimination
Special Rapporteur on contemporary
United Nations
Website with thematic reports and
forms of racism
country reports
Working Group of Experts on People
United Nations
Website with thematic reports and
of African Descent
country reports
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Various international organizations have also issued a number of declarations and conventions concerning
the human rights of Afro-descendants. For example, since 2017, several U.N. groups are working on a
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draft “Declaration on the Promotion and Full Respect of Human Rights of People of African Descent.”
Table 3 lists, in reverse chronological order, select international declarations that relate to the human
rights of Afro-descendants in Latin American.
Table 3. International Declarations and Conventions regarding Human Rights of Afro-
descendants of Latin America
Date adopted
Title
Author
Date of entry into force
Inter-American Convention Against All
Organization of American States
June 5, 2013
Forms of Discrimination and
February 20, 2020
Intolerance
Inter-American Convention Against
Organization of American States
June 5, 2013
Racism, Racial Discrimination and
November 11, 2017
Related Forms of Intolerance
World Conference Against Racism,
United Nations
2002
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance: Declaration and
Programme of Action (also known as
the Durban Conference)
Declaration on Race and Racial
United Nations Educational, Scientific
November 27, 1978
Prejudice
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
International Convention on the
United Nations
December 21, 1965
Elimination of All Forms of Racial
January 4, 1969
Discrimination
Source: Compiled by CRS.
Additionally, CRS Reports discussing Afro-descendant populations include the following products:
CRS Report R43813, Colombia: Background and U.S. Relations, by June S. Beittel
CRS Report R46236, Brazil: Background and U.S. Relations, by Peter J. Meyer
CRS In Focus IF11381, Guyana: An Overview, by Mark P. Sullivan
Author Information
Carla Y. Davis-Castro
Research Librarian
Disclaimer
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Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
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