The People of African Descent Stakeholder Group stands as a global force demanding justice, equity, and reparations, ensuring African descent’s voices shape the world’s future
The People of African Descent Stakeholder Group (PAD SG) was officially established in 2025 as part of the Coordination Mechanism of Major Groups and Other Stakeholders within the United Nations system. This historic milestone brought, for the first time, the voices and perspectives of people of African descent into the institutionalized participatory structures of the UN, joining other historically recognized groups such as women, youth, Indigenous peoples, and others.
Who are the people of African descent?
They comprise around 200 million people across all five continents, primarily descendants of African victims of the transatlantic, sub-Saharan, and Mediterranean slave trades. Today, these communities are present in North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, and beyond, forming one of the largest diasporas in the world. Their history is marked by displacement, enslavement, and systemic exclusion, yet it is equally defined by resilience, cultural richness, and profound contributions to global development, knowledge, and justice movements. Recognizing people of African descent as a distinct population is not only a matter of identity but also of historical responsibility, as their rights, dignity, and participation remain central to building inclusive and sustainable futures.
The PAD SG emerges from decades of collective struggle against structural racism and systemic exclusion. Its creation is deeply connected to the legacy of the Durban World Conference against Racism in 2001, where racism was acknowledged as a global and structural issue and where the call for reparations entered international debate. Two decades later, at the transition from the First International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024) to the newly proclaimed Second Decade (2025–2034), the PAD SG responds to unfinished agendas of recognition, justice, and development. It represents a concrete mechanism to ensure that these commitments are not left behind but rather embedded within the 2030 Agenda, the Pact for the Future, and the broader social, financing, and sustainable development frameworks.
The mission of the PAD SG is to guarantee effective participation of organizations, networks, and individuals dedicated to the promotion and protection of the rights of people of African descent worldwide. Rooted in the principles of human rights, equality, and justice, the group works to make visible the challenges African descent populations face globally and to ensure that these realities are fully integrated into UN processes. Its objectives include influencing and monitoring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Pact for the Future, providing platforms for engagement, strengthening collaboration with Member States and UN entities, and building bridges across regions and communities.
The work of the PAD SG reflects its commitment to inclusivity, transparency, and shared leadership, and it is guided by the conviction that racial justice and the rights of people of African descent are inseparable from sustainable development. The group addresses key areas where structural racism perpetuates exclusion: health, where systemic discrimination compromises access to care and dignity; gender equality, where women and girls of African descent continue to face overlapping forms of oppression; decent work and economic justice, where racism entrenches barriers to opportunity; climate justice, where environmental racism threatens African descent communities and disregards their ancestral role in protecting ecosystems; and global partnerships, where equity and historical justice must guide cooperation between nations.
By institutionalizing the presence of people of African descent in global governance spaces, the PAD SG affirms that sustainable development cannot be achieved without racial justice, historical reparations, and the recognition of ancestral knowledge and contributions. It works to transform exclusion into participation, invisibility into representation, and marginalization into leadership.
At its core, the PAD SG is not only a stakeholder group; it is a continuation of centuries of struggle and resilience. It is a platform where African descent and racialized communities worldwide speak with one voice to affirm their right to dignity, to influence global decisions, and to shape a future that is inclusive, just, and sustainable for all.
Learn more and engage with us at www.africandescentstakeholdergroup.org.
