A/71/297 I. Introduction 1. The present report is prepared in accordance with paragraph 8 of General Assembly resolution 70/140, by which the Assembly requested the Human Rights Council, through the Chair of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, to submit a report on the work of the Working Group to the Assembly. By paragraph 4 of its resolution 27/25, the Council requested the Working Group to submit an annual report to the Council on all activities relating to its mandate, as well as to the Assembly in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent. The time period covered by the report is from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. 2. In accordance with its mandate, the Working Group has continued to monitor the human rights situation of people of African descent worldwide. The Working Group is deeply concerned by the escalation of racism, racial discrimination, Afrophobia, racist hate speech, xenophobia and related intolerance targeting Africans and people of African descent in many parts of the world. In particular, the Working Group condemns police violence and other forms of violence against people of African descent. 3. During the period under review, a new member of the Working Group was appointed by the Council from the Latin American and the Caribbean region. Verene Shepherd (Jamaica) completed her term as a member of the Working Group at the end of November 2015, and her successor, Ahmed Reid (Jamaica), was appointed in December 2015. The current five mandate holders serving as e xperts in the Working Group are Ricardo A. Sunga III (Philippines), Mireille Fanon -Mendes-France (France), Sabelo Gumedze (South Africa), Michal Balcerzak (Poland) and Ahmed Reid (Jamaica). In April 2016, at the eighteenth session of the Working Group, Mr. Sunga III was appointed as the new Chair of the Working Group, replacing Ms. Fanon-Mendes-France. II. Activities of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent A. Annual meetings Seventeenth session (23-27 November 2015) 4. The seventeenth session (23-27 November 2015) was a closed session, in which the Working Group considered internal matters including planning future work, sessions, country visits and communications, and held consultations with various stakeholders, including Governments, civil society and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). One of the decisions taken during the session was to increase the Working Group ’s engagement with financial and development institutions with a view to contributing to development programmes intended for people of African descent. In this regard, missions were planned for 2016. 16-13578 3/11