A/HRC/54/67 and which degraded African culture, denied the history of Africa and undervalued and undermined African knowledge and education systems. On emancipation, many Africans were left without material assets and in the few instances where the law stipulated what those assets should be, compliance was limited. Black indebtedness mushroomed under colonization, segregation and apartheid, and was repackaged and gifted to Africans and people of African descent on independence. What remained with Africans and people of African descent, apart from disenfranchisement and disenchantment, was hope, resilience, innate capacities and abilities, determination, ingenuity, unity and sufficient allies here and there to forge a new life. 93. The situation of Haiti stands out as emblematic of all that was morally, ethically and legally egregious about those who thought to enslave, colonize, segregate and degrade. The situation in Haiti was, to a lesser extent, re-echoed in every instance where enslavement and colonization occurred, as the victimizers were “compensated” for their loss, leaving the victims subject to further layers of economic deprivation and outright theft. The imposition of crushing debt designed to recolonize Haiti, among other nations, is evidence of a deliberate and targeted disregard for humanity and the human rights of peoples. Debt has also precluded sovereign nations from being able to adequately care for their populations. 94. Post-colonial structures, systems, policies and practices continue to mimic the intent and purpose laid down during enslavement and colonization across the intersections of civil, political, economic, cultural and collective spheres, subjecting people of African descent to a third wave of economic (and other forms of) deprivation and hardship. These structures, systems, policies and practices are in banking and finance, insurance and taxation, land rights and land use, the constraining of whole nation States to the demands of the primary and extractive industries, unfair and unequal terms of international trade, irrelevant education and socialization distanced from traditional practices and behaviours, such as the widespread planting and consumption of maize and root vegetables. 95. Small island developing States that are home to many Black populations and are particularly vulnerable to extreme natural hazard shocks and climate change have spent 18 times more in debt repayments than they have received in climate finance. While Governments, monarchies and the merchant class were primarily involved, religious autocracies in Europe were and continue to be contributors to Black indebtedness. In some instances, involvement was direct, in others providing cover to those directly involved. 96. The impact of those pernicious structures and systems is cumulative and, even as legislation changes and structures and systems slowly change, this has been too little, too late and too slowly, leaving millions in the past and more in the present to suffer the consequences. People of African descent are increasingly aware, visibly involved and vocal in taking steps, with many allies, to reverse the policies, dismantle the structures, call for redress and forge ahead in building and rebuilding their well-being and wealth. At the individual level, many people of African descent have emerged and/or escaped from the burden of indebtedness. The focus must be for all Africans and people of African descent to emerge from under the burden of debt at the individual, community and national levels. 97. The high rate of inequality experienced by people of African descent is rooted in colonial dispossession and racial exploitation, and still runs primarily along the racial divide. 98. The pervasiveness of the economic and sociopolitical alienation of communities of African descent suggests that a shift to economic and reparative justice is necessary to break the impasse. 99. Women of African descent tend to be concentrated in informal and precarious employment. They are paid less than men and carry out more unpaid household and care work. 100. Digital inequities acutely affect young people globally, facilitate the spread of disinformation and misinformation and restrict economic opportunities and successes for people of African descent. 101. Extractive processes and the management of extractive industries have been devastating for people of African descent in many countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, often without offering adequate standards of living, jobs or other GE.23-12890 15