Media advisories Special Procedures

UN experts on people of African descent to visit Australia

09 December 2022

GENEVA (9 December 2022) – The UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent will be on a fact-finding visit to Australia from 12 to 20 December 2022.

The experts will gather information on any forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, to assess the overall human rights situation of Africans and people of African descent, said Catherine S. Namakula, who heads the expert group.

The Working Group's delegation, which is visiting the country at the invitation of the Government, will travel to Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, and meet representatives of the Government, national institutions, people of African descent, civil society organisations and individuals working on issues of racism and racial discrimination.

The delegation, which also includes human rights experts Barbara Reynolds and Dominique Day, will examine good practices and gaps in protecting the human rights of people of African descent in Australia.

The experts will also promote the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024).

A news conference to share the delegation's preliminary findings and recommendations will be held at 12:00pm on Tuesday, 20 December at Hyatt Hotel Canberra, 120 Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra, Australia.

The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent was established on 25 April 2002 by the then Commission on Human Rights, following the World Conference against Racism held in Durban in 2001. It is composed of five independent experts: Ms. Catherine S. Namakula (Uganda) current Chair-Rapporteur; Ms. Barbara G. Reynolds (Guyana) current Vice-Chair; Ms. Dominique Day (United States of America); Ms. Miriam Ekiudoko (Hungary and Mr. Sushil Raj (India).

The Working Group is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the United Nations Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

UN Human Rights, country page – Australia

For inquiries and media requests please contact: Christina Saunders (+41 766911399/ christina.saunders@un.org) or write to ohchr-africandescent@un.org.

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Renato Rosario De Souza (renato.rosariodesouza@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter: @UN_SPExperts.

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