Photo: YaYa Marin Coleman, activist and chairperson of the UBAD Educational Foundation
by Kristen Ku
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. June 1, 2023
The 2nd Session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, scheduled for June 2, 2023, is set to build on the groundwork of the introductory session, deepening its impact and extending its reach. Founded and organized by Freedom Imaginaries’ Ms. Malene Alleyne, an international human rights lawyer and researcher from Jamaica, this forum is expected to be held as a virtual Zoom event from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Back in 2022, the pilot session focused on the dialogues and strategies aimed at tackling systemic racism and discrimination, fostering social inclusion, and promoting the economic, social, and political rights of people of African descent. This second session is scheduled to review the progress of initiatives embarked upon during the first session, assess their impacts, and identify areas requiring further intervention.
The key theme for this second session is expected to revolve around the Caribbean Dialogue on a Rights-based Framework for Reparatory Environmental Democracy (RED Framework), in hopes to discuss and bring awareness to the rights-based principles and tools for eliminating racial sacrifice zones and creating pathways for just transitions.
Recognizing the need to transform the environment and climate injustices resulting from colonialism, the RED Framework aims to access environmental rights, particularly for different groups that have been abused and left unprotected.
The forum itself will include a handful of Caribbean panel speakers, including Danielle Andrade from Jamaica, Akilah Jaramogi from Trinidad and Tobago, John Mussington from Barbuda, and Belize’s very own, Sista YaYa Marin Coleman, activist and chairperson of the UBAD Educational Foundation (UEF).
“We found out about this because of our solidarity in partnership with our sisters and brothers in the U.K. The UEF focuses always on the interest of African people racialized as black people in the country of Belize and in the diaspora. And so, it’s because of people-to-people connections that UEF came on the radar within the region and globally why I’m being asked to participate in these conversations …,” Coleman told Amandala.
Coleman will be highlighting the importance of the Escazú agreement as an advocate for the agreement herself, alluding to the dire need for marginalized groups to receive rights to access information, public participation, and justice in environmental matters.
The session, inviting the global community to engage with these critical discussions, fostering a broader, more inclusive dialogue for change, can be accessed via Zoom link https://bit.ly/REDFramework-Launch.