A/HRC/21/60 84. The Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and Against Racial Discrimination of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, presented the objectives of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in its work to fight against racism and promote the rights of people of African descent at the regional level in the Americas. Ms. Antoine talked about the collaborative work of the Commission with non-governmental organizations and other institutions, including the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), as a way to raise the issue of people of African descent. She noted that a report on people of African descent in the Americas had recently been completed and would be soon launched in different countries to enhance visibility on the issue. The Inter-American Commission presented this study as input for the development of the draft programme of action in which several issues were highlighted, including access to quality education, health and justice and discrimination in employment and in the justice system and standards of living. 85. Ms. Antoine stressed that one way of proceeding was to develop the litigation capacity of Afro-descendants in relation to access to justice by bringing more court cases. She also mentioned the issue of gender and spoke both about the rights of women and girls, and the issues affecting young men of African descent around the world. She agreed that one of the key problems was the invisibility of the issue of people of African descent. Despite the issue of race and colour, the question of identity is important. She noted that in some countries where people of African descent are not necessarily a minority, but rather the majority, there were still no mechanisms for self-identification. She pointed out the high percentage of indigenous and people of African descent in the Americas. Finally Ms. Antoine recommended paying attention to the use of the term of “victim” and talking about victims of rights violations rather than a victim-centric approach. 86. Simon Woolley, Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Great Britain (EHRC), presented the work of the Commission and some solutions being explored in this institution. He discussed the role of the EHRC as an A-status NHRI in protecting and promoting equality and human rights in the United Kingdom and presented some of its activities including assisting victims of rights violations to seek remedies, investigating incidents of rights violations, providing statutory and non-statutory guidance on the law, and promoting international human rights mechanisms. 87. Mr. Woolley spoke about the role of the EHRC in the recent process of examination of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, including developing its report for submission, the work EHRC has done in collaboration with civil society to promote the human rights process, raising awareness of the issues raised in the report to the Committee, and plans for implementing the CERD concluding observations. The Commission’s wider activities relating to people of African descent include analysing data to understand the nature and scale of discriminatory practices by the police, addressing the disproportionate rates of unemployment faced by young men of African descent, and political participation. 88. Mr. Woolley made several recommendations for the Decade, including strengthening the treaty monitoring bodies and the implementation of the ICERD and CERD recommendations; a focus on data collection and exchange of information and good practices on measurement frameworks; focus on issues including criminal justice, employment, health and education and a reflection of multiple forms of discrimination. 89. Mr. Diène noted that one of the big challenges was how to take into account the issue of race and colour, how to go beyond it in multiculturalism and enlarge the identity of people of African descent. 90. During the interactive discussion the importance of using the framework of the DDPA was raised several times. It was also highlighted that new issues, relating to new 17