The document emphasizes, "It is about identity, history, and dignity," in reference to recent controversies over school regulations. Similarly, they called for updating educational regulations in accordance with international commitments assumed by Panama, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and to strengthen intercultural education that promotes respect for diversity. The statement also reaffirms the push for a bill aimed at the recognition and preservation of the historical and cultural memory of Afro-descendants within the education system as a tool to combat structural racism through training. Organizations of Afro-descendants denounced setbacks and a crisis in a state entity on the Day against Racial Discrimination. In a statement issued on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the National Coordinator of Panamanian Black Organizations issued a warning about "serious setbacks" in human rights in Panama, with a special impact on children, youth, women, and the Afro-descendant population. The collective focused on the situation of the National Secretariat for Policies and Development for Afro-Panamanians (SENADAP), stating that it is going through one of its most critical moments since its creation. According to their complaints, the law supporting this entity is being violated by the current administration by allowing political interests to interfere in an instance that should be technical and representative. The organization also alerted to the existence of parallel structures within the institution, conflicts between authorities, and the appointment of officials who would not meet the required profiles. In their opinion, this situation weakens an entity that was the product of more than two decades of struggle by the Afro-descendant movement in the country. "We do not accept that an institutional achievement like SENADAP is dismantled by conjunctural political interests," the statement emphasizes. At another point, the Coordinator denounced the persistence of systemic racism in the education system, questioning internal regulations in schools that restrict the use of Afro hair. They consider that these norms contradict fundamental rights linked to cultural identity. "Afro hair is not indiscipline or disorder."
