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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
SEPPIR: Brazil's Special Secretariat for the
Promotion of Racial Equality
By Karen Juanita Carrillo
Members of Brazil's renowned
Black Movement - the country's Black Consciousness Movement - are credited with pushing for the creation of SEPPIR, the
Secretaria Especial de Políticas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial (Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality). "It was one of the first things President Lula's government
did," Edson Santos, the current head of SEPPIR said in an exclusive interview: "Based on the recommendations from
the Durban conference [the United Nation's World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and  Related Intolerance (WCAR), which was held in Durban, South Africa from August 31 to September 8, 2001]. Edson
Santos (right), Brazil’s minister in charge of SEPPIR, explains his organizations goals with the help of his translator,
Roger Willian (left) (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo) "Durban told governments
they needed to do more to promote racial equality. That spurred on the Black Movement and through their pressure they
insisted on the need to create SEPPIR." read more
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