Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Concluding observations on the combined twenty-first to twenty-third periodic reports of Uruguay

Addendum

Information received from Uruguay on follow-up to the concluding observations * , **

[Date received: 12 February 2018]

Introduction

42.In accordance with article 9 (1) of the Convention and rule 65 of its amended rules of procedure, the Committee requests the State party to provide information, within one year of the adoption of these concluding observations, on its follow-up to the recommendations contained in paragraphs 19 and 21 above.

1.As requested by the Committee, Uruguay hereby submits information on its follow-up to the concluding observations. This is the first document prepared and approved by the Committee on Discrimination of the National Mechanism for the Preparation of Reports and Monitoring of Recommendations. The membership of the Mechanism, which was established in 2016, consists of the inter-agency network focal points for the relevant State institutions.

2.At its meeting on 17 November 2017, and as recorded in the attached minutes, the Committee approved this document and decided to convene a meeting with civil society organizations under the Dialogue and Consultation System of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to share with them the information which Uruguay is submitting to the Committee.

Political rights

19.The Committee recommends that the State party adopt effective measures to ensure full participation in public affairs by persons of African descent, both in decision-making positions and in representative institutions. It also urges the State party to continue its efforts to ensure equal opportunities for participation by Afro-Uruguayans at all levels of national and local government, and to promote their participation in decision-making positions in the private sector. The Committee further recommends that the State party promote awareness-raising among persons of African descent with regard to the importance of their active participation in public life and politics.

3.The Working Group on Racial Equity Policies was established pursuant to Presidential Decision DS/181 of March 2017. The Working Group operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Development. Its purpose is to implement measures within the framework of the International Decade for People of African Descent, proclaimed in General Assembly resolution 68/237, in order to consolidate affirmative action strategies.

4.The Working Group seeks to consolidate the public policies and affirmative action which Uruguay has implemented since 2005 to support people of African descent. It is currently setting up the National Council on Racial Equity Policies and drawing up the Council’s rules of procedure. In the course of its work, it has established two subcommittees: one to deal with territory and borders, and the other to manage the System for the Protection of Victims of Racism and Racial Discrimination. Both subcommittees have developed their strategic plans for 2018–2019 in the context of the National Plan for Racial Equity.

5.The Working Group is made up of one representative each from the following bodies: the Ministry of Social Development; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of the Interior; the Ministry of National Defence; the Ministry of Housing, Regional Planning and the Environment; the Ministry of Tourism and Sport; the Secretariat for Human Rights of the Office of the President of the Republic; the Social Insurance Bank; the national postal service; Montevideo City Council; the National Congress of Mayors; the Central Governing Council of the National Public Education Administration; the Planning and Budget Office; and the Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation.

6.Awareness-raising has taken place in a variety of contexts, including National Afrodescendant Month, which is celebrated in July and which focuses on accountability and the future within the framework of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024). Activities carried out in 2017 focused attention on the accountability of the State and on spreading awareness of various aspects of the Afro-Urugayan community; as a result, a spotlight was shone on the situation of Afro-Uruguayans in the country.

7.Other initiatives include: the sixth edition of the Quilombo Conference (held in 2017); a workshop on progress made and challenges encountered in the implementation of Act No. 19122; countrywide seed-funding for projects centred on Afrodescendent culture and society; the second Academic Conference on Afrodescendants; and the publication of a paper on the ethno-racial perspective and public policy by the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Social Development.

8.The 2016 recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination were presented to the public as part of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The 2016 report and 2017 action plan of the Honorary Commission against Racism, Xenophobia and All Other Forms of Discrimination were presented later.

9.In 2017, several activities centred on the theme of women of African descent took place, including: a conference which discussed regional perspectives on the intersectionality of gender and African descent in public policy, and which was aimed at advisers from the National Council on Gender and public policymakers in general; the eleventh edition of the Amanda Rorra Award ceremony, held on the International Day of Afro-Latin, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women, which celebrates women of African descent throughout the country; and a round table entitled “Political participation of Afro-Uruguayan women: The right to vote and stand for election”. The round table had three main objectives: (1) to strengthen the political participation of women of African descent as a civil right; (2) to encourage the participation of women of African descent in the political sphere as a means of ensuring the democratic development of society; and (3) to extend the political influence of Afro-Uruguayan women in local and national participation networks so that issues relevant to their communities are included on the political agenda.

Education

10.In 2016, the Commission on Education and People of African Descent was established. It includes various representatives of civil society organizations and State institutions and is overseen by the Directorate of Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture. Since its founding, the Commission has, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development, held awareness-raising workshops for staff of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Awareness-raising

11.Various courses have been organized for public officials and people of African descent with a view to involving them in raising awareness of the rights set forth in Act No. 19122. Joint management-training activities are also being organized for various public bodies in order to implement the Act.

12.For example, the Ministry of the Interior, in collaboration with civil society organizations, the Working Group on Racial Equity Policies and the National Directorate for Police Training, organizes courses for the police in Montevideo and other departments.

13.The National Directorate for Police Training established a working group to develop academic material on subjects such as personnel training and the review of police protocols and procedures involving issues of ethnicity. For its work on promoting solidarity and overcoming gender-based discrimination and religious intolerance, the Directorate received the Nelson Mandela Award from the Honorary Commission against Racism, Xenophobia and All Other Forms of Discrimination. The University Institute of Police Studies organizes extracurricular student activities promoting non-discrimination.

14.The Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Social Development has delivered relevant training to the human resources staff of all State bodies. It has also provided technical assistance and guidance with regard to the recruitment process and vacancy announcements.

15.In 2017, the National Women’s Institute organized a training course for Afro-Uruguayan women in response to the Political Dialogue for Women of African Descent organized by civil society. The objective of the course was to provide conceptual tools incorporating a gender and ethno-racial perspective. The diverse group of participants was made up of women from various areas who were involved to varying degrees in organized community-based social action and individual action, and who shared an interest in the subject matter. Representatives from civil society organizations also participated.

16.The National Postal Administration has a policy of printing stamps celebrating notable Uruguayans of African descent, to publicize the importance of the work of these distinguished persons in the country. Commemorative stamps have been issued in honour of La Lancera (December 2011), Lágrima Ríos, Rosa Luna and Virginia Brindis de Salas (March 2012), Amanda Rorra (July 2013), Josefa Barbera (December 2014), María del Pilar (December 2015) and Sayago (December 2016).

17.The postal service has made progress with its inclusive website and its policy on diversity and equal opportunity, launching an inclusive publicity campaign in 2013. The campaign featured Uruguayans of African descent, persons with disabilities and transsexual persons as spokespersons for the service’s new products.

Affirmative action measures under article 4 of Act No. 19122

18.In January 2016, article 4 of Act No. 19438 entered into force. It establishes that wherever a State body or public corporation announces a job vacancy, it must expressly identify the profile or profiles relevant to the posts, duties and budget allocations associated with the affirmative action quota provided for under Act No. 19122.

19.The National Office of the Civil Service oversees compliance with the 8 per cent quota. Under the oversight system, each organization is allocated a sort of “current account” to ensure compliance of the recruitment processes managed through the Uruguay Concursa recruitment platform.

20.The National Office of the Civil Service submits an annual report to Parliament that includes the outcomes of the quota policy. In 2016, there were 275 hires under the quota, which accounted for 1.8 per cent of all hires. The number corresponding to the Executive was 3.3 per cent. Although the quota has not been reached, progress has been made: more organizations have issued compliant vacancy announcements and hired people of African descent. In addition, the percentage of women of African descent hired was higher than in previous years, and recruitment profiles set out higher qualification requirements.

21.One third of organizations have requested guidance and training on the preparation of vacancy announcements. According to the report on Government recruitment of persons of African descent (National Office of the Civil Service, 2016), there was an increase in the number of organizations applying the 8 per cent quota, from 13 in 2015 to 19 in 2016.

Discrimination in the education sector

21.The Committee recommends that the State party redouble its efforts to ensure Afro-Uruguayans’ enjoyment of the right to education without any type of discrimination. In particular, it recommends that the State party adopt special measures for persons of African descent, especially adolescents, to remedy disparities in educational attainment, bring down school dropout rates and facilitate access to tertiary education. The Committee urges the State party to take the necessary steps to ensure effective compliance with Act No. 19122 in the educational sphere.

22.The Working Group on Inclusion of the Ethno-Racial Afrodescendent Perspective in Education (ANEP/Inmujeres) coordinates, consolidates and advises on human rights policies for education and policies on human rights education. The overall objective of the Working Group is to ensure that the non-discrimination policies of the National Public Education Administration take the ethno-racial perspective into account.

23.The specific objectives of the Working Group include: (i) the creation of a working group on ethno-racial equity in education, within the Directorate of Human Rights of the National Public Education Administration; (ii) the identification of cases of ethno-racial discrimination and their overlap with issues of gender inequality in all spheres and at all levels of the Administration’s institutions; and (iii) the promotion of ethno-racial equity.

24.Recently, the activities of the Working Group have included: (1) the organization of four workshops in northern departments to introduce and raise awareness of the “Education and the Afrodescendent Community” teaching guide; (2) the organization of an awareness-raising workshop for non-teaching staff on the Central Governing Council of the National Public Education Administration; (3) the delivery of an online course on education and the Afrodescendent community, which was available on the websites of the Ministry of Public Education, the Ceibal Plan and the National Public Education Administration; (4) work to ensure the inclusion of the ethno-racial variable in the records of the National Public Education Administration; and (5) participation in the work of the education subcommittee of the Committee on Implementation of the Law (Act No. 19122).

25.In accordance with Act No. 19122, every year, the Ministry of Education and Culture awards financial assistance grants, the Carlos Quijano Scholarships and the inter-agency “Commitment to Education” programme scholarships. The tables which follow show recent data on financial awards given to students of African descent and the total number of awards given.

26.It remains difficult to ensure that the ethno-racial perspective is included in all scholarship programmes in order to meet the quotas for students of African descent.

27.

Carlos Quijano postgraduate scholarships
Year	Total applications from students of African descent	Awards to students of African descent	Total awards	Total applications
2008	0	0	8	28
2009	4	4	7	47
2010	0	0	5	25
2011	0	0	12	34
2012	0	0	11	50
2013	4	1	14	58
2014	2	1	10	88
2015	1	1	9	166
2016	6	4	12	89
2017	8	3	11	90
Total	25	14	99	675

Scholarships awarded to secondary-school students of African descent
Financial assistance grants
Year	Applications from students of African descent	Awards to students of African descent	Scholarships awarded	Total applications
2011	N/A	20	1 436	5 335
2012	N/A	31	2 894	4 800
2013	N/A	180	3 719	3 986
2014	817	423	4 545	8 155
2015	N/A	752	4 296	22 914
2016	2 578	817	4 296	34 584
2017	4 288	846	4 296	37 015

Commitment to Education
Year	Applications from students of African descent (completed)	Awards to students of African descent*	Scholarships awarded	Total applications
2011	N/A	N/A	1 610	N/A
2012	N/A	N/A	4,355	N/A
2013	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2014	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2015	N/A	N/A	N/A	18 199
2016	1 352	942	7 000	23 270
2017	2 687	1 231	7 000	24 555

** Completed and incomplete applications.

28.The publication of the “Education and the Afrodescendent Community” teaching guide contributed significantly to the national conversation on equality and the prevention of ethno-racial discrimination. In addition, the Commission on Education and People of African Descent (Directorate of Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture) organized a noteworthy round-table debate on racism and human rights in Uruguayan education. Another noteworthy event was the announcement of the third edition of the Nelson Mandela Award by the Honorary Commission against Racism, Xenophobia and All Other Forms of Discrimination. The award seeks to raise secondary-school enrolment and completion rates by celebrating academic diligence.

29.In December 2016, the Coordinating Committee for the National Public Education System approved the National Human Rights Education Plan, one of the objectives of which is to encourage the appreciation of differences and respect for diversity in order to foster understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence among all people and communities (Specific Objective 1.3). In late 2018, the National Human Rights Education Commission will present its first assessment of the Plan’s implementation.