A/HRC/54/67 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28, 27/25, 36/23 and 45/24, in which the Council requested the Working Group to submit an annual report on all activities relating to its mandate. The report is focused mainly on the deliberations of the Working Group at its thirty-second session. 2. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its thirty-first session at the United Nations Office in Geneva from 28 November to 2 December 2022 and its thirty-second session at the United Nations Office in Geneva from 1 to 5 May 2023. Representatives of Member States, international organizations, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations and invited panellists participated in the latter session (see annex). The session was held in hybrid format and it was also webcast and recorded. II. Organization of the thirty-second session A. Opening of the session 3. In his opening statement, the Chief a.i. of the Rule of Law, Equality and Nondiscrimination Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) welcomed the convening of the thirty-second session of the Working Group on the economic empowerment of people of African descent. He called on States to enact action-oriented policies against the persistence of racial discrimination, noting that the High Commissioner, in his global update to the fifty-second session of the Human Rights Council, had called for solutions to manifestations of racial discrimination to be rooted in the universality of rights. He underscored the importance of a human rights economy in ensuring action on reparatory justice and the economic empowerment of people of African descent. He noted that the economic empowerment of people of African descent required not only their inclusion in all spheres of life, but their direct and active participation. He concluded by noting that while the International Decade for People of African Descent ends in 2024, an incredible amount of the programme of activities of the Decade remained to be implemented. Consequently, he reiterated the High Commissioner’s appeal to Member States to consider its implementation. 4. The Master of Homerton College, Cambridge, Lord Woolley, delivered the keynote address. He referred to the death of George Floyd and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as catalysts for dismantling structural, systemic and institutional racism. He spoke of the progress that had been made globally, but reiterated the risks that the pursuit of racial equality faced, not least from people of African descent who were impervious to the deterioration of the situation of people of African descent, including reversals on prior commitments. Lord Woolley expressed disappointment at the response of his own Government to the recommendations of the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities into racial and ethnic disparities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He spoke of the pathways out of poverty and disadvantages for people of African descent and called for allies of all races to join in the fight against racism. B. Election of the Chair 5. Barbara G. Reynolds was elected Chair of the Working Group. 6. The outgoing Chair, Catherine Namakula, welcomed Ms. Reynolds as the new Chair of the Working Group. Ms. Reynolds thanked Ms. Namakula for her achievements during her tenure as Chair and welcomed the new member from the Asia-Pacific region, Bina D’Costa and wished her well in her tenure. 2 GE.23-12890