The Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality of Great Britain, Trevor Phillips, yesterday met Brazil's Special Secretary Minister of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality, Matilde Ribeiro, as part of the Brazilian State Visit to the UK. They signed a letter setting out an exchange programme between their respective organisations.
The meeting took place at the CRE's offices in London.
Trevor Phillips said:
We are very pleased to embark on this exchange programme with our Brazilian colleagues. Race and integration are a challenge for both our nations, and sharing experiences and good practice will no doubt be a very insightful process for our organisations.
The UK Government's Department for International Development will provide support to this exchange.
The full statement of intent is as follows:
Letter of intent
Institutional Exchange Programme between the Commission for Racial Equality of Great Britain and the Special Secretariat of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality of the Federative Republic of Brazil
Recognising the strong relations that exist between the United Kingdom and the Federative Republic of Brazil;
Conscious of the special importance of promoting racial equality that our countries share;
Endorsing the need for joint leadership of efforts to promote racial equality more widely in the international community;
Considering the benefits of exchange and learning between our two institutions;
The Commission for Racial Equality of Great Britain and the Special Secretariat of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality of the Federative Republic of Brazil intend to jointly participate in an institutional exchange to share policy and practical experiences of tackling racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
The Commission for Racial Equality of Great Britain and the Special Secretariat of Policies for the Promotion of Racial Equality, Federal Republic of Brazil take pride in this stated intent of our organisations to work together for a period of twelve months to exchange our knowledge, experience and skills for tackling discrimination, promoting human rights, investing in public awareness, reducing institutional racism and seeking social justice for all members of our diverse societies.