United Nations Civil Society Participation – Activities

Welcome to the United Nations. It's your world.

English
French

NGO Branch
About us
Contact us
ECOSOC Status
Introduction
Applying for Status
Committee on NGOs
NGO Response System
NGO Participation
UN Grounds Pass
Functional Commissions
High Level Segment
Calendar of Events
Conference Registration
Quadrennial Reports

Quadrennial Reports
Quadrennial report due? Read more on our updated page. Click here »

AfroPresencia.com

View Activities

Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Gender Issues and Advancement of Women: Advocacy and outreach Education and training of women Human rights of women Women and the media Social Development: Poverty Social policy Sustainable Development: Education Gender equality Poverty
Geographic scope:	International
Country of activity:	Colombia Brazil Comoros Peru Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Mexico
Millennium Development Goals:	Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Achieve universal primary education Promote gender equality and empower women Improve maternal health
Mission statement:	Within the last 20 or more years there has been a slow but dramatic shift in consciousness among men and women of African descent throughout the Americas. In something akin to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, individuals who have been typically overlooked and neglected are pushing for more rights and reclaiming their cultural identity. Specifically, Afro-Latino leaders and activists in Latin America say they are collectively defining, and redefining, what it means to be of African descent. They are working on an ambitious agenda that includes redistricting for better political representation, bilingual education and re-orienting the history curriculum of the schools in their countries so that stories about people from their communities are included. All of these efforts have had tremendous responses, among them the United Nation’s designation of the year 2011 as “The Year for People of African descent.” International recognition of the struggles of black communities in the Americas has also led to various governmental efforts to help alleviate ongoing problems. During Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva’s administration of Brazil in 2003, a Cabinet-level position was created to deal specifically with the living conditions and educational struggles of the countries’ long neglected black and Indigenous minorities. In Colombia, activists pushed for government passage of Law 70 (Ley de Negritudes/Law of the Blacks) of 1993, which legally recognized blacks as a distinctive ethnic group and mandated that their history be taught in schools. In Cuba, increasing numbers of non-political groups are forming to tackle ethnic race issues, among them the Martin Luther King Movement for Civil Rights. And in the Dominican Republic, some blacks are fighting state authorities for the right to be categorized as “black” on their passports. These movements and changes in policy are primarily because Afro Latinos throughout South and Central America are by many standards disadvantaged socially, politically and economically (in the same way U.S. African-Americans were during most of the 20th century). Similarly, as there were political activists during the 1950s and 1960s that fought for social, economic, political and racial equality in the U.S., there are men and women in many countries throughout Latin America who are today advocating for their community’s equal rights. Promoting the efforts of these individuals is what drives the mission behind the types of articles, features and news media stories AfroPresencia.com presents on its website. Our goal is to educate the general population about the social and political conflicts that affect the lives of millions of people of African descent trying to live their lives peacefully. The educational component associated with our website is targeted towards advocating for social, racial and economic justice. The educational component of our organization is to inform interested parties about political, social and economic policies and practices that affect the living conditions of Black populations throughout the Americas. Anticipated outcomes post is that the Afropresencia.com website will facilitate discussion and promote positive change for poor and exploited Black populations throughout the Americas.
Year established:	2007
Year of registration:	2007
Organizational structure:	AfroPresencia.com was established in 2007 because of a perceived gap on the positive aspects of men and women of African descent in the media. Prior to the establishment of AfroPresencia.com news media coverage was limited in its focus; meaning, that many of the news media stations both internationally and nationally were focusing their attention on the crimes and misdemeanors of local community members of African descent. AfroPresencia.com’s mission was established to develop a counter narrative that included the voices of the people behind the news media stories, the people behind the negative perceptions and the people who have been “carrying the torch” for progressive movements throughout the Americas for most of their lives.
Number and type of members:	Lisa J Scott, PhD (Chief Operating Officer, Curriculum and Development) Lisa J Scott is one of the Chief Operating Officers for Afropresencia.Com. She is responsible for the educational components associated with the organization. She has a background in curriculum and development and has been an educator for over 20 years. Karen Juanita Carrillo (Chief Operating Officer, Writer) Karen Juanita Carrillo, our main features writer, has written articles on notable individuals such as Julian Bond, the former head of the NAACP; Piedad Cordoba, a former Liberal Senator from Colombia; and Hugo Chavez the current President of Venezuela. She has worked as a journalist for more than 15 years, and presented lectures on African American and Afro-Latino issues.
Affiliation with NGO networks:	AfroLatino Forum
Funding structure:	Donations and grants from domestic sources

Previous

Next

Contact NGO Branch
Questions on applications, reports, or other inquiries Click here »

Online Application
Applying for ECOSOC Consultative Status? Click here »

UN Grounds Pass
Obtaining a UN Grounds Pass Click here »

Conference Registration
Registering for a UN Conference? Click here »