MONTREAL/September 26, 2001—
On the heels of the United Nations conference on racism in Durban, Concordia University will host a conference on the rights of minorities of African descent. It will take place from September 27 to 30 in the D.B. Clarke Theatre in the Henry F. Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West).
Convened by the Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Minorities, Asbjorn Eide, this conference is organized jointly by the Association for Canadian Studies, the Concordia branch of the Concordia-UQAM Chair in Ethnic Studies and their partners.
Mr. Eide, Chair of the UN Working Group was pleased with Concordia's invitation to hold a seminar on the situation and rights of Afro-Americans, and recommends that a follow-up seminar on this theme be held, in the Americas, by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) before the eighth session.
During the conference, Jack Jedwab, Executive Director of the Association for Canadian Studies, will present a profile of Canadians and Americans of African descent including statistical data (available at the information table). On Sunday at 10:30 a.m., he will address the issues that surfaced at the Durban conference.
The United Nations Working Group on Minorities decided, on the occasion of its sixth session held in May 2000, that regional networks on minority protection be strengthened and that further studies regarding the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities be undertaken. To this end, the Working Group recommended that seminars be organized in the Americas, with a specific focus on the situation of the minorities of African descent in the Americas.
Key speakers will include:
Vivian Barbot, Chair, Women's Federation of Quebec (Canada)
Joseph Facal, Quebec Minister responsible for citizens' relations (Canada)
Grace-Edward Galabuzi, York University (Canada)
Jesus Chucho Garcia, Coordinator of la red de Organizaciones Afrovenezolana and President of la Fundacion Afroamerica (Venezuela)
Patrick Healy, Faculty of Law, University of McGill (Canada)
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Percy Hintzen, Professor, African American Studies, Berkeley University (USA)
Keder Hyppolyte, Co-chair of the conference organizing committee, responsible for non-government organizations (NGOs) (Canada)
Alain Jean-Bart, Chairman, advisory council on intercultural and interracial relations of the Montreal Urban Community (Canada)
Marlene Jennings, Parliamentary Secretary, responsible for international cooperation and Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Graces-Lachine (Canada)
Gustavo Makanaky, Asesor Movimiento Nacional por los Derechos Humanos de las Comunidades Negras de Colombia (Columbia)
Dr. Clarence Munford, Professor Emeritus, University of Guelph (Canada)
Jorge Ramirez Reyna, Asociacion Negra de Defensa y Promocion de los Drechos Humanos (Peru)
Dr. Fernand de Varennes, Murdoch University, Perth, (Australia)
Laurie Wiseberg, Liaison with NGOs, World Conference Against Racism (Geneva)
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