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UNIFEED
STORY: UN / PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT FORUM
TRT: 03:23
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
14 APRIL 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly
3. Wide shot, General Assembly dais
4. Wide shot, General Assembly President Philemon Yang walks up to the GA rostrum
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Philemon Yang, President, General Assembly:
“The theme of this session, “Africa and People of African Descent: United for Reparatory Justice in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” is timely and deeply relevant. It compels us to confront historical injustices. And to ensure that emerging technologies do not reinforce patterns of systemic racism and exclusion.”
6. Wide shot, United Nations Chef de Cabinet Earle Courtenay Rattray at the GA rostrum
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Earle Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We still bear witness to the scourge of racism, which blights lives and stains societies. People of African descent continue to face injustice, exclusion, systemic discrimination and violence. And even artificial intelligence, which holds such promise for humanity, too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries. Power is concentrated in the hands of the few.”
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Earle Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, United Nations:
“All of us have a responsibility to play our part – international organizations, governments, businesses, and individuals. And to drive action across this Second International Decade for People of African Descent. In particular, I urge all countries to deliver on their commitments in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – the blueprint for combatting racism, racial discrimination and intolerance.”
10. Wide shot, Colombia’s Vice President Francia Márquez at the rostrum
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Francia Márquez, Vice President, Colombia:
“Colombia is one of the most unequal and inequitable countries in Latin America. That is why, with our arrival in government we created the Ministry of Equality and Equity, which seeks to reduce the gaps in the territories and guarantee the rights of historically excluded and marginalized populations. After 31 years, we have made progress in regulating Law 70 of 1993, which recognizes the rights of the Afro-descendant population.”
12. Wide shot, Márquez at the rostrum
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Francia Márquez, Vice President, Colombia:
“I insist on the importance of assuming a plan of historical reparation for the effects of colonialism, slavery and systemic racism. I also insist on the creation of a global fund for historic reparations to eradicate the consequences and damages of colonialism and slavery and racism.”
14. Zoom out, delegates applauding
Addressing the fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, (PFPAD4) Colombia’s Vice President, Francia Márquez, today (14 Apr) called for “a plan of historical reparation for the effects of colonialism, slavery and systemic racism,” as well as the creation “of a global fund for historic reparations to eradicate the consequences and damages of colonialism and slavery and racism.”
Under the theme Africa and people of African descent: United for reparatory justice in the age of
Artificial Intelligence, the Forum is taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York,
from 14 to 17 April 2025.
General Assembly President Philemon Yang said this year’s theme “is timely and deeply relevant” as it “compels us to confront historical injustices. And to ensure that emerging technologies do not reinforce patterns of systemic racism and exclusion.”
Speaking on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres, Chef de Cabinet Earle Courtenay Rattray told the Forum that “we still bear witness to the scourge of racism, which blights lives and stains societies.”
Rattray said, “People of African descent continue to face injustice, exclusion, systemic discrimination and violence. And even artificial intelligence, which holds such promise for humanity, too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries. Power is concentrated in the hands of the few.”
He told delegates that “all of us have a responsibility to play our part – international organizations, governments, businesses, and individuals. And to drive action across this Second International Decade for People of African Descent.”
In particular, he urged all countries “to deliver on their commitments in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – the blueprint for combatting racism, racial discrimination and intolerance.”
Márquez, for her part said, “Colombia is one of the most unequal and inequitable countries in Latin America. That is why, with our arrival in government we created the Ministry of Equality and Equity, which seeks to reduce the gaps in the territories and guarantee the rights of historically excluded and marginalized populations.”
After 31 years, she said, “we have made progress in regulating Law 70 of 1993, which recognizes the rights of the Afro-descendant population.”
According to the PFPAD4 concept note, global calls for reparations for the historical legacies of enslavement and colonialism have gained new urgency in the digital age, where systemic inequities within and among countries risk being replicated in emerging technologies.
Participants will discuss the need to build ethical and inclusive AI systems that protect the human rights of people of African descent, ensuring justice and accountability in this new technological era, while exploring how AI can be used to advance racial justice.
