On 18 December 2009, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the year beginning on 1 January 2011 the International Year for People of African Descent (A/RES/64/169).

The Year aims at strengthening national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent in relation to their full enjoyment of economic, cultural, social, civil and political rights, their participation and integration in all political, economic, social and cultural aspects of society, and the promotion of a greater knowledge of and respect for their diverse heritage and culture.

The General Assembly encourages Member States, the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and existing resources, and civil society to make preparations for and identify possible initiatives that can contribute to the success of the Year.

This International Year is coordinated by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rigths.

• Full text of the Resolution
• Visit the official Website of the Year

Initiatives related to this celabration (to be regularly updated)

• Fellowship Programme for People of African Descent (Deadline 15 January 2012)
• Closure of the International Year for People of African Descent: A Decade in Perspective, United Nations, 6 December 2011
•  High Level Ibero-American Summit on People of African Descent, Salvador de Bahia, Brasil, 16-19 November 2011
• Celebration of the International Year for People of African Descent and Promotion of the General History of Africa, UNESCO, Paris, 29 October 2011

• Brazil-Africa: Crossed Histories Programme in the 36th UNESCO General Conference

• International Competition to Honour the Victims of Slavery and the transatlantic Slave Trade
• International Day for the Remembrance of Slave trade and its Abolition, 23 August 2011
• Presentation of "The Slave Route in the River Plate: contributions to intercultural dialogue", Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18 July 2011
• The Harriet Tubman Student Summer Programme 2011 on "Introduction to African and African Diaspora Studies", York University, Toronto, Canada, 4- 15 July 2011
• Commemorating the Slave Trade and Slavery as a Crime against Humanity, France, 10 May 2011

• "Africa Here, Africa There", Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada, 5-7 May 2011 

• Interregional Philosophical Dialogue between Africa and the Americas – “Africa and its Diaspora” Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA, 18-20 April 2011
• General History of Africa Collection translated in Portuguese, UNESCO Brasilia, April 2011
• Launching of the international Year for People of African Descent in Brazil, UNESCO Brasilia, April 2011
• Teachers talking about the Transatlantic Slave Trade, New York, 23 March 2011
• Celabration of the International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, UNESCO Headquarters, 21 March 2011
• Thematic discussion on racial discrimination against People of African descent on the theme “Racial Discrimination against People of African Descent”, Geneva, 7 March 2011
• Savoirs des femmes : médecine traditionnelle et nature Maurice, Rodrigues, Réunion, Publication, March 2011 
• Meeting of the International Scientific Committee of the UNESCO Slave Route Project, Bogota, 28 Feb.- 3 March 2011
• Islands as Crossroads: Sustaining Cultural Diversity in Small Island Developing States, Publication, February 2011

• Exhibition on Arts and Poetry from the Artist Hilda Zagaglia,  Alta Garcia, Argentina, 4-24 February 2011

Related links

• Launching of the Year 2011, on December 10, 2010 (video)
• UN Information Centre (article in French)
• Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
• UNDP: promoting social inclusion of people of African descent
• Slave Routes. A Global Vision: Highlighting the African presence and contribution 

• Source:UNESCO/ONU
• Last updated: 5 December 2011