GENEVA - The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent will convene its fifth session in Geneva next week, marking its first five years and focusing on expanding rights and advancing justice under the Second International Decade for People of African Descent.
Hundreds of participants, including human rights activists of African descent from around the world, are expected to take part in the four-day session, to be held from 14 to 17 April 2026 at the Palais des Nations.
Proceedings will open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 14 April, with a cultural performance and a high-level opening segment featuring remarks by Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, followed by a general debate throughout the day.
From Wednesday, 15 April, the Permanent Forum will hold a series of thematic panel discussions. The first will focus on strengthening global solidarity with people of African descent, marking 25 years since the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. A second panel will address reparatory justice and the restitution of cultural heritage.
Discussions on Thursday, 16 April, will turn to young people of African descent as rights-holders and agents of change, followed by a panel assessing the mandate, achievements and future opportunities of the Permanent Forum after its first five years.
On Friday, 17 April, members of the Permanent Forum are expected to present preliminary conclusions and recommendations based on the week's discussions. The session will close with a brief cultural performance.
A programme of side events organized by Member States, civil society, United Nations agencies, programmes and funds, as well as other stakeholders, will take place alongside the session, both in person and online.
The full schedule of plenary meetings and side events is available on the Permanent Forum's Sched page. Meetings of the session will be webcast live in the six official languages of the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), as well as in Portuguese.
The report of the session will be presented to the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (September-October 2026) and the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (September 2026).
