Pará concludes participation in the 5th Conapir strengthening the protagonism of racial equality in the State
The Pará delegation was the largest from the North region and presented contributions in defense of traditional African matrix peoples and communities, black youth, quilombolas, women, and the LGBTQIAPN+ population
After five days of intense debates in Brasília (DF), the Pará delegation concluded its participation in the 5th National Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality (Conapir) with prominence on the national stage. Participating with 63 delegates, elected in the state stage promoted by the Government of Pará, through the State Secretariat for Racial Equality and Human Rights (Seirdh) and the State Council for the Promotion of Racial Equality Policy (Coneppir), Pará participated with the largest delegation from the North region.
The State presented 15 priority proposals, developed at the 5th State Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality. During the national event, the debates involved representatives from all states, social movements, and public managers, reinforcing the collective construction of policies for reparations, justice, and racial democracy.
The head of Seirdh, Edilza Fontes, highlighted the historic nature of Pará's participation. “Pará fulfilled its role exemplarily, bringing the voices and demands of our people to the national debate. We return home with the certainty that we contributed to strengthening the fight for reparations, justice, and racial democracy. The commitment of the state government is to ensure representativeness and defend effective public policies,” said the secretary.
Action in the axes - In addition to defending proposals, the Pará delegates participated in working groups, thematic tables, and articulations that expanded dialogue with other regions of the country.
According to Denilson Silva, manager of Racial Equality Promotion at Seirdh, Pará's participation was significant. “We had a very strong performance in the reparations axis, with the participation of traditional African matrix peoples and communities. We also advanced with proposals from black youth, which sought to transversalize racial equality policies with youth policies, in addition to the contribution of LGBTQIAPN+ delegates who brought agendas related to combating violence, LGBTphobia, and the inclusion of the black LGBTQIAPN+ population in the labor market,” he emphasized.
In the field of women, the debates prioritized health, security, and citizenship, emphasizing the ethnic-racial aspect and the diversity of profiles, including black women, quilombolas, rural women, farmers, trans women, and women from terreiros. “We concluded our participation with a very positive balance, where we managed to understand that the articulation, in addition to working at the state level, can unfold to meet other segments at other moments that made up the national conference. We return with a duty fulfilled to our society, and from now on we will work on specific agendas that were addressed here, such as the creation of the state policy for African matrix peoples in the State of Pará,” added Denilson Silva.
Black youth - João Victor Meireles participated for the first time in a National Conference on the Promotion of Racial Equality. According to him, the event was a space for collective strengthening. “I feel very honored to be part of this moment that is, above all, about listening and exchanging with our elders. But beyond this moment of listening, I realize that when the black people unite, it is to aquilombar. And participating in the national conference as a state counselor, but also elected in the plenary of black youth, representing the black youth of Pará, and being able to help build policies, proposals for equality, respect, and inclusion of black youth in political processes, in decision-making processes, is very important,” he stated.
There was also mobilization from the quilombola segment, which defended agendas such as land regularization, support for family farming, and addressing agrarian conflicts. Valdinei Gomes, manager of the Promotion of Quilombola Rights at Seirdh, emphasized the inclusion, in the final document, of the proposal for the creation of the Ministry of Quilombola Peoples. “This is a proposal created in the State of Pará. It is a struggle that has been fought for many years by leaders and associations, and now we have managed to include it within the approved proposals. Now, we will return to Pará, and in our luggage, we carry the hope of having our own ministry. It is a slow process that requires a lot of struggle from representative entities and bodies. But we leave here with the first step taken,” he assured.
