In Acord Newsletter Issue 1: February 2001

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Article 6:

ACORD Kidal hosted 28 participants from 19 African countries at the UN's second seminar on multiculturalism in Africa from 9 to 13 January 2001 in Kidal, Mali.

The participants met to discuss peaceful and constructive initiatives in situations involving minorities and indigenous people.

The seminar was co-funded by ACORD, the United Nations Working Group on Minorities and Indigenous Populations, and the UN High Commission for Human Rights.

The main focus was on multiculturalism in West Africa and on the various traditional and cultural mechanisms for maintaining positive relations between the different peoples in the region. It focused on development in multicultural environments and the role of international and regional inter-governmental organisations in these environments.

Mr Ahmed Mohamed Ag Guidi, ACORD's Programme Co-ordinator in Kidal gave a detailed presentation on the developments in ACORD and the new Kidal pastoral programme.

The seminar resulted in 26 recommendations to African governments, the UN, the African Commission on Human Rights and NGOs. These included:

• Urging African governments to take measures to avoid the constant discrimination and marginalisation of indigenous people and minorities and to respect, ratify and implement UN conventions and articles of the African Charter for Human Rights concerning indigenous people and minorities.
• Urging the UN to provide resources for the full and active participation of indigenous people and minority groups at the World Conference on Racism to be held in Durban, South Africa in September 2001.
• Urging the African Commission on Human Rights' new working group on Indigenous Populations to set up funds for indigenous people and minorities to ensure their full participation in the Commission.
• Urging NGOs to organise the exchange and dissemination of information amongst indigenous populations and minorities and to organise workshops and seminars on promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous people and minority groups.

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