The African Arts & Culture Community Contributor Society under the Issamba Centre published the report entitled “International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) Action Plan for BC” in 2022. This project was funded by Resilience BC. The action plan outlines a comprehensive set of recommendations across various areas to improve representation of People of African Descent (PAD), facilitate capacity-building, and dismantle racist and oppressive structures.
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Improving PAD access to health services
Support PAD-led models and community collaboration
Recommendation 25: The Ministry of Health should fund and promote the creation of mental health hubs and free People of African Descent-led counseling and clinical mental health sessions that are easily accessible for Peoples of African descent across the Province.-
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Improving support for Black businesses and owners
Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs
Recommendation 37: The Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation must commit to creating dedicated and adequate funding pathways, including grants and concessionary loans for business owners of African descent, that are less complex to access and have clearer criteria than the federal-level Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund under the Black Entrepreneurship Program. Considering historical and structural risks and biases People of African Descent businesses have to contend with, It is also critical for these programs to reduce or attenuate emphasis on collaterals by Banks.-
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Improving support for Black businesses and owners
Deepen equity in service delivery by and to PADs
Recommendation 38: The Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation should invest in advisory, consulting, and mentoring services for People of African Descent businesses accessing loan programs. This should come through both a centralized funding stream through People of African Descent business organizations and a separate stream directly accessible by People of African Descent business owners.-
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Deepening PAD presence in BC
Deepend equity in service delivery by and to PADs
Recommendation 94: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should support and fund translations of the BC Newcomer’s Guide into the most predominantly spoken languages amongst People of African Descent – Swahili, Amharic, Somali, Igbo, Twi, Zulu, Arabic, and Spanish. This will deepen the needed sense of connection and community for a broad segment of newcomers of African descent and constitute an effective model to expedite their integration into the mainstream. and easing transfer for beneficial information to those experiencing language barriers. It is further recommended that this work be delegated to People of African Descent community organizations to ensure adequate volumes of production and broader reach for each sub-group.-
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Increase access to resettlement services for PADs
Support PAD-led models and community collaboration
Recommendation 95: The Ministry of Municipal Affairs in collaboration with the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Division at the Ministry of Attorney General should fund advisory services to help grow the capacity of People of African Descent-serving settlement services organizations, so that they can effectively deliver on services including, but not restricted to, employment transition support, language training, mental health services, financial literacy, and youth mentoring programs etc.-
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