Fourth session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

Title: “Beyond Numbers" - Leveraging Data and Evidence to Advance Equity for People of African Descent

Date: April 16, 2025
1:15 PM to 2:45 PM

Location: UN Secretariat CR6; New York

Background
Established on the 2nd of August of 2021 by the General Assembly’s adoption of resolution 75/314, the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) is a consultative mechanism for people of African descent and other relevant stakeholders, a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent as well as an advisory body to the Human Rights Council and the UN system on issues connected to racism and discrimination against People of African Descent.1

Despite at least 22 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean region having demonstrated progress in the inclusion of racial ethnic self-identification variables in the 2020 census round , adequately quantifying the challenges faced by people of African descent as well monitor and highlight best practices in targeted program implementation and other efforts to fight systemic racism, discrimination ensure development and human rights, remains a challenge. Data disaggregated by race and ethnicity remains scarce, of poor quality or regionally and globally incomparable. Indeed, the significant gap in reliable data and evidence regarding the prevalence and specific impacts of racism across various sectors such as employment, housing, healthcare, and the criminal justice system, hinders efforts to effectively address and combat systemic structural inequalities for people of African descent.

Challenges in collecting data on race and ethnicity include the underreporting of discriminatory experiences, lack of disaggregated data, implicit bias in data analysis. Generating disaggregated data by race and ethnicity is crucial for understanding the lived experiences of people of African descent and taking appropriate measures to combat systemic racism. This is particularly important, when In many countries in Latin America more than 25% of the African descent population live in poverty, the rates sometimes going as high as 40.8% for Afro-descendants who live in total poverty (ECLAC and UNFPA, 2020).

The inequalities faced by girls and adolescents of African descent in Latin America are alarming. World Bank data reveals that 1 in 5 Afro-descendant children drop out of school before completing their education2. Furthermore, Afro-descendant adolescents are more likely to become pregnant before the age of 19, which increases the risk of maternal mortality and affects their life trajectories. The Second Regional Report on the Implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, issued by ECLAC in 20243 shows that in 9 countries of the region the percentage of adolescent mothers between 15 and 19 years old is higher in the Afro-descendant population. The disparities for people of African descent in the Americas are just as high for other important development issues including maternal health, education and more. These figures highlight the urgent need to address inequalities and ensure the protection of rights and choices of Afrodescendants girls and adolescents.

Data and evidence also play a critical role in helping to understand what is working in order to scale-up positive experiences and accelerate progress and ensure we leave no one behind and the highest standard of health including sexual and reproductive health. Likewise, statistical visibility is a human rights imperative for the Afro-descendant population and is fundamental for their social and economic inclusion. Identifying the gaps resulting from exclusion and inequality through data collection and disaggregation facilitates understanding the disparities which allows the design of targeted interventions to address them. This data-driven approach enables more effective policy formulation and resource allocation, ultimately promoting equity, social justice and human rights.

Objective:
During the 4th session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, UNFPA, in partnership with UN-Women and with the co-sponsorship of the government of Colombia ,is hosting a side event titled “Beyond Numbers: Leveraging Data and Evidence to Advance Equity for People of African Descent”. The event will explore the critical role of data and evidence in combating systemic racism, promoting equity and human rights. It will showcase impactful past and current research data and evidence projects, best practices discuss progress in data disaggregation by several development factors including gender, economic status, race, ethnicity, location and others. It will highlight data and evidence-generation efforts by UNFPA and other partners including regional bodies, CSOs and academia. Furthermore it will call for more concrete commitments, particularly on ensuring sustainable financing for data collection, analysis and dissemination.

● Raise global awareness of the gap and challenges in the development, analysis and dissemination of data disaggregated by race and ethnicity as well as other development markers that reflect the lived experiences of people of African Descent.
● Emphasize the importance of strong data collection and evidence-based strategies to combat racism and racial discrimination, reach those furthest behind including to ensure human rights and access to quality sexual and reproductive health and rights.
● Highlight best practices in data collection and analysis, as well as the transformative impact reliable data and evidence has in the lives and livelihoods of People of African Descent.
● Call for more concrete commitments, to ensure sustainable financing for data collection, analysis and dissemination.


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1. United Nations General Assembly. (2021). Establishment of the Permanent Forum of People of African
Descent (A/RES/ 75/314)
2. Freire, Germán; Schwartz Orellana, Steven; Carbonari, Flávia. 2022. Afro-descendant Inclusion in Education: An anti-racist agenda for Latin America. Washington, DC: World Bank. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO
3. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Population, Development and Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean: Second Regional Report on the Implementation of the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development (LC/CRPD.5/3), Santiago, 2024.