THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
A UN expert group will visit Germany from 20-27 February to investigate the human rights situation of people of African descent in the country.
The visit is taking place within the framework of the International Decade of People of African Descent (2015–2024), which highlights the human rights situation of the African Diaspora worldwide and aims to fight racial discrimination against them in the societies they live in.
During the visit, the UN human rights investigators will meet Africans in a town hall setting in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt and listen to their experiences in Germany and the problems they often encounter.
Moreover, the study group will also hold talks with representatives of the federal and state governments, public human rights institutions and civil society groups.
The experts will gather information during their week-long stay in Germany on all forms of racial discrimination to which Black people are subjected in the country.
On the basis of their findings, the experts are expected to prepare a report which they will present to the UN and the German government on how to promote a better inclusion of people of African descent and fight discrimination against them in the country.
“NGOs and individuals of African descent are invited to the Town Hall Meetings to interact with the UN experts and express their views,” said Elisabeth Kaneza, Country Fellow of the Decade for Germany. “We’re calling on members of the community to spread information about the meetings as wide as possible.”
The International Decade for People of African Descent, to be observed from 2015 to 2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly and adopted on 23 December 2013. The theme of the Decade is “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development”.
The Decade was officially launched in Germany last June in Berlin in the presence of a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Sola Jolaoso
Dates of the Town Hall Meetings:
Frankfurt am Main │ Thursday, 23 February, 15:00 – 18:00 hrs
Venue: Ökumenisches Zentrum Christuskirche, Beethovenplatz 11-13, 60325 Frankfurt -Westend
Cologne │ Friday, 24 February, 15:30 – 18:00 hrs
Venue: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cäcilienstraße 29-33, 50667 Köln
Hamburg │ Saturday, 25 February, 10:30 – 13:00 hrs
Venue: Die Linke Fraktion, Lilienstr. 15, 20095 Hamburg
Berlin │Saturday, 25 February, 17:00 – 19:30 hrs
Venue: Rathaus Tiergarten, Mathilde-Jacob-Platz 1, 10551 Berlin
More information on the events from:
Ms Elisabeth Kaneza
E-Mail: elisabeth@kaneza.org
