This is a summary of the report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-first and twenty-second sessions, prepared pursuant to Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28, 27/25 and 36/23. During its twenty-first session, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 November 2017, the Working Group held private discussions. At its twenty-second session, held in Geneva from 19 to 23 March 2018, the Working Group focused on the theme “Framework for a declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African descent”.

The Working Group concluded that the draft declaration should:

• Recognize the cultural, economic, political, and scientific contributions of people of African descent;
• Highlight the interconnectedness of past to present, mainly of the legacy of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism with the persistence of racism, racial discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia, marginalization and related forms of intolerance against people of African descent today;
• Acknowledge and combat multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by people of African descent through the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Moreover, 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 programme and session contributions to the Working Group’s Session 22.