U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice Desirée Cormier Smith will travel December 3-8 to Geneva for the first session of the UN Permanent Forum for People of African Descent.  The Special Representative will address the Permanent Forum to underscore strong support for its mandate.  The United States has championed the Permanent Forum as a necessary space to promote the collective engagement of all people of African descent to build a better future globally and reaffirm U.S. readiness to partner in global efforts that address the issue of anti-Black racism.

Special Representative Cormier Smith will also speak at a side event hosted by Howard University about student research on the Sustainable Development Goals and Black communities in the United States.  The Special Representative will engage with senior representatives of other governments on forging joint approaches to promote racial equity and justice globally.

To learn more about Special Representative Cormier Smith’s work, follow @US_SRREJ on Twitter.  For media inquiries, please contact DRL-Press@state.gov.