Summary

This is a summary of the report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-third and twenty-fourth sessions, prepared pursuant to Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28, 27/25 and 36/23.

During its twenty-third session, held in Geneva from 3 to 7 December 2018, the Working Group held private discussions. At its twenty-fourth session (public), held in Geneva from 25 to 29 March 2019, the Working Group focused on the theme “Data for racial justice”.

At its public session, the Working Group discussed the human rights situation of people of African descent globally. It also took a comprehensive look at the varied intersections of big data and racial justice (and injustice). The Working Group presented its draft report on countering negative racial stereotypes of people of African descent.

It concluded that mapping and analysis of disaggregated data were crucial to inform policy priorities relating to equality and opportunity for people of African descent. In addition, the refusal by some States to collect and disaggregate data based on race and ethnicity was one of the most serious impediments to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Indeed, achieving those Goals and meeting their targets required dismantling the structural and systemic barriers to sustainable development that exist for people of African descent in developing and developed countries.

The Working Group also concluded that all relevant stakeholders should make an effort to implement the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the programme of activities of the International Decade for People of African Descent.

View background information of the Working Group’s 24^th Session.