A/HRC/48/78 twenty-seventh session. The Working Group also held several private meetings to consult on and plan for future activities. 8. The Working Group held its twenty-seventh session, on a virtual platform, dedicated to systemic racism and the lessons of 2020, from 30 November to 3 December 2020. This public thematic session built on the report of the Working Group on COVID-19, systemic racism and global protests, and set the scene for the mid-term review of the International Decade for People of African Descent and the twentieth anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. It included discussions on key themes and priorities for the protection of the human rights of people of African descent, positive developments, good practices and how to address systemic racism on the basis of international human rights law.3 The Working Group will present a report on the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions to the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session. 9. The Working Group thanks all those who sent written submissions following its call for inputs.4 The input received was extremely useful to the Working Group for its sessions and in the preparation of the present report. 10. On 5 March 2021, the Working Group organized a civil society consultation to continue to engage with and learn from civil society in the run-up to its twenty-eighth session. The consultation was an opportunity to identify the human rights concerns that should be prioritized and to make recommendations for preventing the racial discrimination faced by people of African descent. 11. On 23 March 2021, the Working Group organized a virtual screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary Mossville: When Great Trees Fall. The documentary tells the story of Mossville, in Louisiana, United States of America, a once-thriving community founded by formerly enslaved and free people of colour, and an economically flourishing haven for generations of African American families. Today it is an area crowded with petrochemical plants and covered by toxic black clouds. Many residents have been forced from their homes, many have died, and those who remain are subject to prolonged exposure to contamination and pollution. The event, held on the eve of the twenty-eighth thematic session of the Working Group on environmental justice, the climate crisis and people of African descent, was organized jointly with the Mossville team. More than 200 people participated in the event.5 12. The Working Group held its twenty-eighth session, dedicated to the theme of environmental justice, the climate crisis and people of African Descent, from 24 to 26 March 2021 (see sect. III). 13. Owing to COVID-19-related travel restrictions, the Working Group’s visit to Australia, planned for December 2020, was postponed. The Working Group thanks all Governments that have invited it to undertake visits to their countries and looks forward to confirming the dates thereof. The Working Group is currently rescheduling country visits for 2021, 2022 and 2023. 14. During the period under review, and in accordance with its mandate, the Working Group sent 16 communications under the special procedures communications procedure regarding allegations of human rights violations to, inter alia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Mauritius, Spain, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and other actors, including the Formosa Plastics Corporation.6 The Working Group also issued 12 media releases and statements. It urges States to address the human rights violations that people of African descent face, and to take effective measures to end impunity and structural racism. 15. On 16 February 2021, the Working Group sent an open letter to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Subcommittee Chairman Steve Cohen and Chairman Jerrold Nadler on 3 4 5 6 See https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Racism/WGAfricanDescent/Pages/Session27.aspx. The submissions received by the Working Group are available at https://ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Racism/WGAfricanDescent/Pages/WGEPADIndex.aspx. The panel discussion held at the event is available from https://vimeo.com/528449034. For communications sent and replies received, see A/HRC/46/3, A/HRC/47/3 and A/HRC/48/3. 3