The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent is undertaking a fact-finding mission in Jackson and other parts of Mississippi January 22nd – 24th. Cooperation Jackson and the Jackson Human Rights Institute will host the Working Group for a full day Saturday, January 23, 2016 at the Chokwe Lumumba Center for Economic Democracy and Development.
9:00 am – 9:30 am Welcome and Introduction
9:30 am – 10:10 am Right to Education
10:20 am – 11:00 am Right to Water, Utilities and Public Goods
11:10 am – 11:50 am Workers Rights and Economic Justice
12:00 pm – 12:45 pm Lunch
1:00 pm – 1:40 pm Police Brutality and Extrajudicial Killing
1:50 pm – 2:30 pm Mass Incarceration and Political Prisoners
2:40 pm – 3:20 pm Right to Health and Health Care
3:30 pm – 4:10 pm Land Rights, Right to Food and Food Sovereignty
4:20 pm – 5:00 pm Housing, Gentrification and Displacement
5 pm – 5:45 pm Dinner
6:10 pm – 6:50 pm Gender Issues
7:00 pm – 7:40 pm Environmental Racism and Political Repression
7:45 pm – 8 pm Closing
The Working Group is touring four cities, including Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago in addition to Jackson. The purpose of the visit is to gather as much evidence about the current state and conditions of people of African descent in the United States, particularly as it pertains to criminal justice and the respect for our economic, social and cultural rights, that will be reported on directly to the Human Rights Council in the form of a report. This report will be used to pressure the United States government to respect, protect, and fulfill its human rights obligations to people of African descent living within the United States.
The visit of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent will also be utilized as an opportunity to promote the International Decade of People of African Descent. The International Decade commenced on January 1st, 2015 and is set to end December 31st, 2024. Cooperation Jackson and the Jackson Human Rights Institute are utilizing the decade to try and promote systemic change for people of African descent in the United States. We intend on doing ongoing program to promote the decade, the case for reparations, and the call for a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice over the course of the next 9 years. For more information on the International Decade for People of African Descent visit.
All people who identify as people of African Descent (i.e. Black people, African Americans, New Afrikans, etc.) regardless of class, gender, or age are encouraged to participate in this process.
What is the UN Working Group of People of African Descent?
The members of the Working Group are appointed, independent experts from various countries dedicated to improving the human rights situation of people of African descent around the world. One of their mandates is to visit different countries to examine critically the situation of people of African descent in the country, identify problems, and make recommendations for resolution of the problems. There will be 3 experts who will visit and 2 UN staff.
For more information email CooperationJackson@gmail.com visit www.CooperationJackson.org, or the following Facebook Pages: https://www.facebook.com/CooperationJackson/
