Brazil Africa Institute supports the African Diaspora in the Americas Conference
The founder and president of the Brazil Africa Institute (IBRAF), Professor João Bosco Monte, attended the opening ceremony of the Conference on the African Diaspora in the Americas, held in Salvador, Bahia. The event, which is supported by IBRAF, is an important milestone in strengthening African roots and dialog between representatives of the African Union and the Americas.
The conference, which takes place from August 29 to 31, 2024, is organized by the African Union and the government of Togo, in partnership with the Federal Government of Brazil, the State Government of Bahia and the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). Brazil, which is home to the largest Afro-descendant population outside the African continent, was invited by the African Union High Ministerial Committee on the Decade of African Roots and the Diaspora to host this meeting, which aims to discuss topics such as pan-Africanism, memory, restitution, reparation and reconstruction.
The president of IBRAF was at the opening table alongside Togo’s foreign minister, Robert Dussey; Brazil’s ministers of state Margareth Menezes (Culture), Silvio de Almeida (Human Rights and Citizenship) and Anielle Franco (Racial Equality), the secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality and Traditional Peoples and Communities of the state of Bahia, Ângela Guimarães; and the rector of the Federal University of Bahia, Professor Paulo César Miguez. In his speech, Professor João Bosco Monte pointed out that “the Brazil Africa Institute has the capacity to bring together such different people, but on the basis of a common ideal, which is integration.”
With a program rich in cultural presentations and thematic dialogues, the conference is a space for exchange and learning, reinforcing the importance of pan-Africanism, memory and reconstruction. “There’s an African proverb that says that if you want to go fast, you go alone, but we don’t want to go fast, we want to go far. And to go far, we have to go together,” added the IBRAF president, emphasizing the importance of working in cooperation.
