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RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1292/01 3091323
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051323Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5322
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 0001
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0073
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0035

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001292 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: NA 
TAGS: PHUM PREL ELAB ECON PGOV SOCI BR
SUBJECT: Third Meeting of the Steering Group of the U.S.-Brazil 
Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and 
Promote Equality, October 22-23 
 
REF:  Brasilia 1167 
 
¶1.  Summary:  In an October 22-23 Steering Group meeting of the 
U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic 
Discrimination and Promote Equality, the USG and GOB agreed on the 
following: 
 
-- the public launching of a $400,000 Small Grants Program for 
educational and cultural projects to promote racial and ethnic 
equality; 
-- oversight responsibilities for the selection, monitoring and 
evaluation of such projects; 
-- support for efforts to cooperate in combating racial profiling by 
the Brazilian police; and 
-- endorsement of greater U.S. and Brazilian civil society and 
private sector involvement in the Joint Action Plan. 
 
The meeting for the first time saw significant participation of 
Brazilian civil society and the election of four Brazilian civil 
society co-chairs.  This will allow for more direct and effective 
interaction with the two U.S. civil society co-chairs and U.S. 
organizations.  A/S Shannon, leading the U.S. side, encouraged civil 
society and the private sector participation in the Joint Action 
Plan as a means to address racial inequality and increase social 
inclusion.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  In two days of discussion October 22-23 in Salvador da Bahia, 
Brazil, the governments of Brazil and the United States agreed on a 
number of steps to advance the Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial 
and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality.  At this, the third 
meeting of the Steering Group of the Joint Action Plan since the 
U.S.-Brazilian agreement was signed in March 2008, the two 
governments announced the launching of a $400,000 Small Grants 
Program for educational and cultural projects to promote racial and 
ethnic equality.  Projects can be proposed by Brazilian civil 
society organizations working in partnership with U.S. 
organizations.  The governments of both countries, through Brazil's 
Special Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality (SEPPIR) 
and Ministry of External Relations (MRE) and the U.S. Department of 
State, will have oversight responsibilities for the selection, 
monitoring and evaluation of such projects. 
 
Government Dialogues 
 
¶3.  The two governments engaged in in-depth policy dialogues on 
employment, education and health.  Apart from SEPPIR (represented by 
Minister Edson Santos), MRE (represented by Under Secretary for 
Political Affairs Vera Machado), and the U.S. Department of State 
(represented by Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs 
Thomas Shannon) and U.S. Charge d'Affaires Lisa Kubiske, the 
following agencies participated in the dialogue:  the Brazilian 
Ministries of Health, Justice, Labor and Employment, the U.S. 
Departments of Justice and Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission (represented by Acting Chair Stuart Ishimaru), the 
Inter-American Foundation (represented by President Larry Palmer), 
the Agency for International Development, and the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
¶4.  Employment:  A number of initiatives were considered to increase 
access of Afro-descendant and indigenous people to the labor market, 
to guarantee equal pay for equal work and to improve the precarious 
situation of domestic workers in Brazil, most of whom are 
Afro-descendant and female.  The two governments agreed to follow up 
on a proposal to apply the lessons of the 1996 Olympic Games in 
Atlanta to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, specifically in 
providing incentives for black-owned enterprises and training and 
employment opportunities for black workers. 
 
¶5.  Education:  The two governments reviewed a number of projects 
already completed and suggested that future projects under the Joint 
Action Plan focus on job-oriented education and education below the 
university level where the impact of investment is greatest.  In 
addition, it was agreed that greater emphasis should be placed on 
English teaching to prepare young people for entry into the labor 
market. 
 
¶6.  Health:  The focus of the policy dialogue on health was on 
racial and ethnic disparities in the incidence of heart disease, 
diabetes, HIV/AIDS, other diseases and infant mortality.  Brazil's 
Ministry of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention already collaborate extensively.  The governments agreed, 
however, that more could be done, especially technical exchanges and 
assistance to eliminate the most pervasive disparities in the 
provision of health care. 
 
¶7.  On the margins of the Joint Action Plan meeting, officials of 
the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and U.S. Department of Justice, 
jointly with civil society representatives, outlined a project to 
cooperate in combating racial profiling by the Brazilian police. 
 
BRASILIA 00001292  002 OF 003 
 
 
Planning for this project is ongoing. 
 
Civil Society Panels 
 
¶8.  Members of Brazil's civil society elected four civil society 
committee co-chairs and, concurrent with the government meetings, 
joined their two U.S. counterparts in a series of panel discussions 
involving civil society organizations, government officials and 
representatives of the private sector of both countries to explore 
possibilities for binational cooperation in the areas of public 
security, health care for the black population, preservation of 
black culture, access to higher education and corporate social 
responsibility.  Civil society representation was strong and vocal, 
often numbering over 40 a session, and Bahian state officials and 
nongovernmental organizations from Bahia also contributed 
significantly to these discussions. 
 
¶9.  Public security:  A Brazilian Ministry of Justice official 
described his ministry's efforts to put police in positions of 
mentorship for disadvantaged youth.  A professor of the Federal 
University of Bahia, however, claimed that the police were 
responsible for brutalizing black youth.  U.S. participants from the 
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Denver Police 
Department explained their work, respectively, to measure racial 
bias by police and to train police not to discriminate based on 
race. 
 
¶10.  Health care for the black population:  A U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention official described a federal 
initiative called REACH to support lifestyle changes, build 
health-professional capacity and monitor outcomes to improve the 
health status in minority communities in the United States.  A 
representative of the National Health Policy for the Black 
Population of Brazil outlined efforts to reduce racially-based 
health disparities, including a program started in 1996 to create a 
database of children with sickle-cell anemia in 15 states.  A UCLA 
researcher described her studies on the health effects of racial 
discrimination and the role of the affected community in determining 
public health priorities. 
 
¶11.  Preservation of black culture:  An American professor linked 
memory and self-preservation, noting the impact and legacy of the 
African holocaust and how the U.S. civil rights movement helped to 
build a black identity based on pride and self-respect.  A Brazilian 
museum curator spoke about the need to teach Afro-descendant youth 
the history of their people, and she said museums played a vital 
role in that task.  During the discussion period, some audience 
members advocated establishment of a memorial to slavery with an 
emphasis on resistance and rebellion.  There was also wide support 
for a festival of Afro-origin culture between Brazil and the United 
States, potentially expanding to include other countries in the 
African diaspora. 
 
¶12.  Access to higher education:  A professor from UCLA outlined the 
history of affirmative action in the United States, and an American 
student noted how in California minority representation amongst 
university students dropped dramatically when certain affirmative 
action measures were abandoned.  A Brazilian educator said that 
admission quotas were essential in Brazil to ensure educational 
opportunities for Afro-descendant and indigenous peoples. 
 
Private Sector 
 
¶13.  Corporate social responsibility:  U.S., Brazilian and 
third-country companies detailed their efforts to reach out to the 
Afro-Brazilian community both as a matter of philanthropy and to 
provide employment opportunities.  Several audience members evinced 
skepticism while at the same time urging companies to do more. 
 
Lessons Learned 
 
¶14.  We gleaned a number of lessons from the Salvador meeting that 
can be applied toward future meetings of the Steering Group: 
 
-- There should be a concentration on a narrower range of subjects 
to allow for more in-depth and interactive discussion. 
-- Large group discussions must have structure and discipline.  An 
iron-willed but neutral and amiable moderator should limit the time 
for opening statements by panelists and cut off speechifying and 
irrelevant comments from the audience. 
-- Having concurrent meetings of government and civil society caused 
some in civil society to believe they were being cut out of the most 
important discussions and weakened our message of cooperation and 
joint action. 
-- The participation of specialized USG agencies, at both the 
technical and policy level, provides necessary expertise.  However, 
senior-level officials need to be better utilized, e.g., given more 
time to speak in the Steering Group, and be programmed for related 
outside activities. 
 
BRASILIA 00001292  003 OF 003 
 
 
-- High-level side meetings are critical.  A/S Shannon had 
productive discussions with U.S. and Brazilian civil society and 
private sector representatives, helping to shore up support for the 
Joint Action Plan. 
-- Between Steering Group meetings, there needs to be frequent 
interaction involving the USG, GOB and civil society/private sector 
actors to ensure continuous progress in achieving Joint Action Plan 
goals. 
 
Comment 
 
¶15.  The Salvador meeting heralded a new level of cooperation 
between Brazil and the United States in promoting racial and ethnic 
equality and demonstrated significant interest on the part of 
Brazilian civil society organizations.  This cooperation is not 
merely government to government, but involves civil society and, 
increasingly, the business sector of both countries.  Our intention 
is to bring together the whole of our societies so that people from 
all walks of life can learn from their counterparts in the other 
country and cooperate in areas of mutual interest.  The justice 
project mentioned in paragraph 7 above has the potential to become a 
major initiative of the Joint Action Plan.  Meeting participants 
from both countries had a sense of forward movement in Salvador and 
are looking forward with enthusiasm to the next meeting of the 
Steering Group in the United States in April 2010. 
 
Kubiske