A/HRC/54/67 releases and statements and engaged through social media. The Working Group urged States to ensure accountability for the human rights violations faced by people of African descent and end structural racism. 13. The Working Group continued its work with international and development institutions and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system to promote the protection of the human rights of people of African descent. It conducted technical visits to Uruguay (Montevideo) from 21 to 24 March 2023 and to Mexico (Mexico City, Guerrero and Acapulco) from 27 to 30 March 2023. These visits were within its mandated activities5 and were at the invitation of, and hosted by, the Resident Coordinator’s office and the United Nations country team in Uruguay and by the office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Mexico, with support from the OHCHR country office. The purpose was to contribute to the capacities of United Nations agencies, their advocacy and the implementation of prior recommendations of reports by various human rights mandates and treaty bodes for the promotion and protection of the human rights of people of African descent. During the visits the Working Group participated in an event on 21 March in Montevideo, delivered lectures and held meetings to advocate for an increased focus on people of African descent in development programming, and provided technical assistance on a human rights-based approach for implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals as they relate to Africans and people of African descent. The Group also provided support to the United Nations system and development partners on strategies for implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent and its programme of activities at the national and local levels. 14. From 17 to 25 October 2022 the Chair of the Working Group, Ms. Namakula, and member, Ms. Ekiudoko, participated in the seventy-third ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the forums held by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions preceding the session. They participated, together with other special procedure mandate holders, in the context of the tenth anniversary of the Addis Ababa Roadmap 2012–2022 to set the vision for the next decade. The Working Group organized a panel on people of African descent during the NGO forum and convened and organized a side event on the African reparations agenda during the session. The Working Group also held meetings with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Commission and other commissioners to discuss the human rights situation of people of African descent and Africans in the diaspora and to call for greater action to protect their human rights. They specifically requested the Commission to include the state of human rights in the African diaspora as a standing agenda item of sessions of the Commission. The Commissioners promised to increase their focus on the diaspora. The Chair of the Working Group delivered a statement during the meeting of the Commission under agenda item 4, the state of human rights in Africa, and submitted a draft resolution on people of African descent and Africans in the diaspora for consideration by the Commission. The Vice-Chair of the Commission sponsored the resolution for adoption by the Commission. The members of the Working Group are proud of their contribution and welcome the adoption of the resolution on “Africa’s reparations agenda and the human rights of Africans in the diaspora and people of African descent worldwide”.6 15. On 3 November 2022, the Working Group Vice-Chair, Ms. Reynolds, met with the Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination and her team at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in Washington D.C., to discuss issues of common concern and strategies to address them. 16. The Working Group also participated in in the first and second sessions and some side events of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, which were held from 5 to 8 December 2022 and from 30 May to 2 June 2023 respectively. The Working Group also participated in coordination meetings with the Permanent Forum for People of African 5 6 4 In accordance with its mandate, the Working Group liaises with financial and developmental institutional and operational programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations with a view to contributing to development programmes intended for people of African descent, as well as other affirmative or positive measures and strategies within the human rights framework. ACHPR/Res.543 (LXXIII) 2022. GE.23-12890