AKANNI - Institute for Research and Consultancy on Human Rights, Gender, Race and Ethnicities, is an organization of black women, which was officially established on March 17, 2005 in the form of an Association. It is a non-profit legal entity under private law, headquartered in the city of Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul. The AKANNI Institute aims to implement social projects, develop research and advise governmental and non-governmental organizations in solving problems that affect excluded populations, especially women and Afro-descendants.

The actions of the AKANNI Institute are interdisciplinary and transversal to the themes of the environment, health, culture, education, self-sustainability and empowerment, acting in the face of the phenomenon of crime and confronting violence: institutional, physical, psychological, symbolic and sexual.

During these twenty years of activity, important projects have been developed in the field of combating structural racism. Action in rural and urban Quilombo Remnant Communities, advising and instructing the communities in the processes of recognition and titling of their lands; self-sustainability and agroecological production; advice on the self-organization process of the quilombola movement. In the area of education, in line with the LDB – Law of Education Guidelines and affirmative action policies, the implementation of complementary law 10639/03 requires educational institutions to include Afro-Brazilian and African history and culture in their curricula; in partnership with the Popular Forum for Public Security and Diversity since 2005, research has been developed on police violence, organized crime and the victimization of the black population in the outskirts of Porto Alegre, with the aim of making visible the construction of alternatives to overcome the causes of violence.