International Day for People of African Descent

In 2020, the General Assembly adopted the resolution for the International Day for People of African Descent. The celebration of this day on August 31 each year is in line with the global and regional consensus on the need to promote the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of people of African descent, as called for in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), the Plan for the Decade for People of African Descent in the Americas (2016-2025), and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The term "Afro-descendant" was recognized by the States and the United Nations as a legal and political concept adopted during the Regional Conference of the Americas, held in Santiago, Chile, in 2000 in preparation for the Third World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.