The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, in partnership with the Center for Afro Peruvian Women’s Development – CEDEMUNEP – carried out two training sessions in Peru, in the northern city of Piura and the southern city of Ica. In both workshops, there were representatives from the Regional Ombudsman’s Office, the National Institute of Statistics and Information (INEI), Directors, Managers of education, health officials, social development, mayors of Afro-descendant communities and Afro-Peruvian leaders. It’s important to highlight the support of both local governments of Piura and Ica throughout the events.

These workshops aimed to make government officials and local representatives aware of the importance of inclusion for Afrodescendants in the 2017 census. To promote the cross-institutional dialogue between local government and community representatives, as well as the role of these bodies in the 2017 census, and to generate strategic partnerships for the creation of actions aimed at encouraging Afro-Peruvians in these communities to actively participate with an appropriate self-identification, according to the concepts used on the 2017 census.

Both events helped identify the lack of information and promotion of the 2017 census to the Afro-Peruvian population, as well as the urgency for awareness campaigns directed towards the Afro-Peruvian population to be set in place in order to adequately respond to the question of ethnic identification that is included in the census.

Some of the main agreements reached at both meetings included:

• Representatives of the Government of Piura and Ica confirmed their commitment to the Afro-Peruvian population, and the importance of developing a plan of action in the buildup to the census. The Government of Piura was represented by Mr. Hernan Garcia Cabrera, and a dialogue with Mr. Jose Luis Calle Sosa. The Government of Ica was represented by Karim Polack Alejo.
• Similarly, participants in both events, from both government and community, agreed on the need to work together to create tools, mainly audiovisual, of awareness for the Afro-Peruvian population.
• Pedro Periche Querevalú, Regional Director of Education in Pura, offered his support for the distribution of information and materials in the region.

The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights is pleased to support these activities, while continuing to highlight our objective of increasing the visibility of the Afro-Peruvian population, in preparation and realization of the 2017 census. We hope the census allows for the development of tools necessary for the creation of public policies aimed at the Afro-Peruvian population.

For more information, (in Spanish) you may visit the press notes at the following links:

http://walac.pe/analizaran-derechos-de-los-afroperuanos-en-la-region-piura/

http://rpp.pe/peru/piura/piura-comunidad-afrodescendiente-busca-ser-incluida-en-censo-2017-noticia-980982

http://www.regionpiura.gob.pe/index.php?pag=17&id=1554&per=2016