UN expert discusses International Year for People of African Descent with financial institutions, NGOs

3 September 2010

WASHINGTON -- On 1 and 2 September, the Chair of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Ms. Mirjana Najcevska, was in Washington, DC where she met with international financial institutions, the Organization of American States and non-governmental organizations to discuss the up-coming International Year for People of African Descent (2011) which was proclaimed by the General Assembly during its last session. The Chair had very productive meetings with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Organization of American States in which they discussed plans for activities to mark the year, including the possibility of joint activities in the context of an ongoing collaboration for the benefit of people of African descent. The Chair’s meetings with non-governmental organisations were equally fruitful and she was impressed with the enthusiasm of civil society as it looked towards the International Year as an opportunity to commemorate the contribution that people of African descent have made to the societies in which they live as well as place a spotlight on situations that still present a challenge for their full enjoyment of human rights.

Mirjana Najcevska was appointed as a member of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent by the United Nations Human Rights Council in November 2008. The members of the Working Group are independent from any Government and serve in their individual capacities. Ms. Najcevska is a Professor at the Institute for Sociological, Political, and Juridical Research at the "Saints Cyril and Methodius" University in Skopje.

For more information and media requests please contact: Mr. Richard Clarke, UN Human Rights Officer (phone: +41-22- 928-9874, e-mail: (rclarke@ohchr.org)