Rights as peoples and nations

Recognising Black communities as an ethnic group —not as a vulnerable population— changes the nature of the right: it stops being assistance and becomes self-determination. That is the difference between receiving a programme and deciding a policy.

This recognition has normative development in Colombia and backing in international law, yet its exercise remains uneven. We document, accompany and train on the mechanisms that exist —prior consultation, special constituency, autonomous jurisdiction— so the right is exercised and not merely stated.