At the end of July Brazil’s national statistics institute (Ibge) released its first-ever census on the country’s Afro-Brazilian 'quilombola' population - Afro-Brazilian communities who identify as the descendants of escaped slaves who established their own settlements. In the Ibge statement announcing the release of the census, the research coordinators overseeing the census highlighted the importance of registering the populations of traditionally marginalised social groups, such as quilombolas, in steering government policy towards catering for their needs. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government has aimed to support quilombola rights, despite concerns from the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee, which released a report on 26 July lamenting ongoing violence and effects of environmental degradation which quilombola communities suffer.End of preview - This article contains approximately 611 words.
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