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During the five years of the Joint Action Plan to Promote Racial and Ethnic Equality, the civil society has not been heard yet. So, we bring forward 10 points for the bilateral meeting.
This Tuesday April 28, within the framework of the Deputy Secretary of State’s visit, Antony Blinken (photo, right), the Steering Committee of the Joint Action Plan to Promote Racial and Ethnic Equality will also meet in Bogotá. (See open letter to Blinken)
This Action Plan was signed in January 2010 by then Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and the Foreign Affairs Colombian Minister, Jaime Bermúdez.
The Steering Committee should “attend, among others priorities; themes such as education, culture, dwelling, health, employment and the anti-discrimination legislation”.
The previous session of the Steering Committee was made in Washington DC in 2013; the Colombian delegation was headed by the Interior Minister.
The Joint Action Plan has not been avowed nor appreciated by the population; because this topic has not been taken into account by the government’s speech (See Deputy Secretary Blinken will find Afro-Colombian displeasure)
The following memorandum is aimed to the two governments gather up concerns of several sectors of the Afro-Colombian civil society and reflects manifest gaps in the Joint Action Plan.
The 10 points make reference to the Legitimacy, information, education, employment, business and be taken into account by the National Development Plan.
Requests for the Steering Committee of Joint Action Plan to Promote Racial and Ethnic Equality between United States and Colombia.
Legitimacy and information
1. Put forward the Joint Action Plan to a representative widespread panel of Afro-Colombian leadership (about 20 people) and stocktaking during its five years.
2. Set up a monitoring role for the Afro-Colombian leadership in the enforcement of the Joint Action Plan, by means of a technical tool.
3. Create an instance of support and bilateral political control of the Congressional Black Caucus and Afro-Colombian legislators.
4. Devise dynamic micro-sites of the Action Plan on the each embassy website, the Ministery of Interior and National Planning.
Education
5. Guarantee five Fulbright scholarships aimed to Afro-descents, on which there is a huge dubiety by the Colombian financing side. This year there was not call.
6. Support the fellows seeding that seek to make ready 1000 Afro-Colombian young to fight for scholarships “Being clever worth it” as an affirmative action.
7. Strengthen and increase the Martin Luther King fellowship program for the English language learning which is aimed to university students.
Employment and Business
8. Review the prospects and agreements on labor rights and access to the business opportunities discussed in the framework of the endorsement of the Free Trade agreement between the two countries.
9. Analyze and relaunch the Equality statement of opportunities signed in 2010 by important Colombian companies of the private sector, leaded by Fupad and AmCham.
Inclusion in the National Development Plan
10. The Colombian government commits and keeps in mind the Joint Action Plan within the National Development Plan 2014-2018 and the President Santos honors the words relating to the 10 proposals for the Afro-Colombian progress.
Translated: Jorgelino Cordoba Mosquera
